Here We Go Again
by jessica-m-99
Summary: The Doctor has regenerated and everything is changing along with him. Ariel Parsons is growing closer to her destiny as the woman fated to destroy the universe, a new companion threatens to set Ariel and the Doctor apart and just who is River Song? When Ariel wants nothing more than some time alone with the Doctor it seems she is doomed to get anything but. SEQUEL TO MEANT TO BE
1. The New Doctor

**A/N I'm back you guys! I didn't finish any of the fics I planned to but I missed uploading this so here I am! I hope you guys are still reading this series.**

 **FYI This is a sequel to my story 'Meant To Be' so if you have not read that yet please do so. I do not own any characters, dialogue or plotlines originally found in the series, comics or any other properties under the title 'Doctor Who'. The characters, lines, and plots not originally found in the series however belong to me.**

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Ariel Parsons was thrown across the floor of the library, but before she was flung into one of the bookcases, the pool flew forward from across the hall as though the machine was trying to catch the young woman with it in her scattered state

The brunette's flickering stormy grey eyes widened at the sight of the deep blue beneath her. She sucked in a sharp breath right before she fell backwards into the pool with a loud splash. She swam around in the pool wildly, but something was holding her back. It was as though an invisible force was pressing on her chest keeping her from swimming forward.

Just when she thought it was hopeless, there was another loud splash and a blurry figure in a blue shirt and tie fell in.

"Doctor!" Ariel exclaimed, but all that came out were bubbles and an inaudible voice. He was unable to hear her and possibly help her get out.

Ariel watched with wide eyes as the Doctor clung to the wall of the swimming pool and bolted out.

 _Great_ , she thought. _I'm gonna die in a swimming pool that's stuck in a library_.

The water pushed Ariel even further backwards, pressing against her chest like a large pair of hands just pushing her ribs down into her lungs. Her back hit the wall of the swimming pool and she let out a small gasp with nothing but bubbles coming out of her mouth at the emotion.

Ariel turned around with a bit of difficulty and grappled at the wall before eventually using it to pull herself up and out of the swimming pool.

She fell to the ground and automatically rolled to the bookcase lining the back wall of the library as she coughed the water out of her lungs and brushed her wet yet short brown hair out of her face.

Ariel glanced up with a sigh and noticed the entire Tardis looked as though it had fell onto its backside. Whatever happened with the Doctor's regeneration, it wasn't good.

She took a deep breath. She had so been hoping for a normal regeneration and a chance to spend some time with her boyfriend and get to know his new face. Of course, while dating the Doctor, things were never as simple as you'd like them to be.

Ariel was still unbothered by it, she had learned to go with the flow after a year with traveling with him. After all, if you don't roll with the punches while traveling through time and space with an alien from another planet, you likely wouldn't last long.

She never minded the rapid pace of things and the maddening events that always seemed to unfold while standing by his side because without him, her life was dead ordinary. Sure, she had been happy secluded and dreaming herself into far off lands and unknown places, but with the Doctor she got to live out those dreams and truly live.

She had decided a long time ago, that she would never leave his side unless he wanted her to. Living in his world alongside him was just too good to pass up of your own free will.

Of course, there were moments when it was painful and she wondered what was the point in all of it, but being in love with the Doctor had reassured her that while there was bad: there was always good right alongside it.

Ariel took a deep breath and stared up at the climb she had before her. Traveling with the Doctor, there were also many moments where you had to figure out a way out on your own.

She jumped up and latched onto one of the bookcases in front of her. She used it like a ladder to get to the front of the library and crawled onto the top of it to get her bearings. She glanced around and saw a rope at the very end of the corridor outside the console room. The Doctor had probably left it for her to crawl out, all she had to do was get to it.

Ariel sucked in a sharp breath and jumped up, clinging to the wall beside the entrance. The doors were swinging haphazardly beside it and Ariel jumped up quickly, not wanting to be smacked in the stomach by a large wooden door.

She jumped over the gap of the entrance and crawled towards the rope, not wanting to risk standing and possibly slipping all the way into the library again.

She clung to one of the corridor lights with one hand and stretched over to the rope swaying back and forth slowly before her. She missed the rope on the first try, but on the second she grinned as she grabbed it and walked up to the console room.

Ariel coughed, using the sleeve of her jumper to cover her nose and mouth against the smoke and various fires throughout the room.

Now, she knew how they crashed.

She got to the very top of the Tardis where the doors were still open and jumped up to grab the floor. She dropped the rope and climbed over the Tardis before falling into the grass with a thud.

Ariel groaned and rubbed her head. Apparently, regeneration couldn't be difficult for just the Doctor.

She scrambled off the ground and brushed the dirt off her trousers, glancing up at a dimly lit house across the garden. If she had to guess where the Doctor was, that was a good a start as any.

Ariel winced as her feet sloshed in her sneakers, the water from the swimming pool still inside. She was too annoyed and far too tired to care.

All she wanted was to find the Doctor and figure out what they could do with their home literally up in flames behind her.

Ariel shoved the small metal gate open and it clanged loudly as it hit the fencing. She marched through the already open door and stopped at the entrance. She stared at the house for a single moment before screaming loudly so anyone in there could hear.

"Doctor!" Ariel yelled.

"Ah, and there she is," a distant voice chuckled from the kitchen.

Ariel's eyes widened. It couldn't be. The man who phoned her before her mother's funeral? Bowtie?

She frowned as she realized and took a deep breath. She was surprised, sure, but the more she thought on it the more it made sense. The only person who could possibly ask her age and moan about getting the time wrong was none other than the Doctor himself.

Ariel squelched her way into the kitchen and, hardly noticing the young ginger Scottish woman running about, her eyes were fixated on the Doctor.

"What do you think?" the Doctor smirked. "New, new Doctor."

Ariel smiled softly as she walked up closer to get a better look at him. He had dark floppy hair that looked gorgeous over his young face. His bright green eyes sparkled as he grinned at her making her smile despite her anger. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt an overwhelming surge of happiness. However small, a tiny bit of her had wondered if she would find the Doctor just as handsome as before. Sure, they were both still the Doctor and she would always love his personality, but they bore the faces and bodies of two different people. She couldn't help but be a bit worried. "I love the hair," she muttered. "Chin's a bit much though," she remarked.

"Ah, that's why I said," the Doctor mumbled as he took a bite of his food. "Still," he shrugged. "Can only focus on so many things to do right during regeneration. I didn't have time for the nitty gritty like chins."

"Next time, you'll have some other strange part that sticks out like eyebrows," Ariel giggled.

The Doctor laughed and shook his head. "So, you like it?"

"Yeah," Ariel smiled and nodded. She ran her fingers through his new, yet slightly damp hair. "It's a bit younger than the last one," she noticed. "But I like it," she nodded, much firmer this time.

The Doctor beamed up at her. It broke his hearts when people didn't like his new face. It wasn't like there was anything he could do about it. Especially since this would be his last face. More than anything, he wanted Ariel to like it.

"Are you eating fish fingers and custard?" Ariel frowned at the bowl.

"Oh, it's brilliant," the Doctor said with a mouthful of food. "D'you want a bite?" He prompted, holding up the fish finger he had already half bitten into.

Ariel stared down at it for a minute before shrugging and taking a bite. "Oh," she said with wide eyes. "Not half bad."

"It's the only thing the new mouth has liked so far," the Doctor sighed.

The young ginger grabbed some ice cream and a spoon and sat it at the table before standing up and looking up at Ariel with wide eyes.

"Are you the lady he wouldn't stop talking about?" The young girl asked in a thick Scottish accent.

Ariel giggled and raised an eyebrow at the Doctor who blushed profusely.

"I guess so," Ariel shrugged.

"Were you in the library too?" The girl asked.

Ariel sighed softly and glanced down at her drenched attire. "Yeah, sort of," she mumbled awkwardly.

The girl just smiled. "Would you like a towel?"

"Yes, please, thanks," Ariel grinned. The girl ran off to get her some towels and Ariel smirked at the Doctor, grabbing one of the fish fingers from his bowl.

"The girl ran in with two towels and a bag. "I brought these for your clothes and hair and these for your shoes."

"Thank you," Ariel smiled. "You're so sweet," she said as she took the items. "I'm gonna go dry off but you haven't got any apples by any chance have you? This idiot hasn't eaten all of them, has he?"

"Oi!" the Doctor snapped and Ariel just giggled.

"No, he said they were rubbish," the girl replied.

"Oh, yep. New mouth, new rules I suppose," Ariel shrugged.

"I'll leave one out for you," the girl nodded.

"Thanks," Ariel smiled. She grabbed a chair and removed her shoes and socks to put them in the plastic bag before using the towels to dry her hair and clothes.

The little girl glanced at the pair of them with a grin.

"Funny," she remarked.

"Are we?" the Doctor prompted and the little girl nodded. "Good," the Doctor nodded. "Funny's good. What's your name?" He asked.

"Amelia Pond," the girl replied proudly.

"Oh, that's a brilliant name," the Doctor laughed. "Amelia Pond," he smiled, glancing back at Ariel who nodded with a grin.

"Wish I had a name like that rather than being called a bloody mermaid all my life," Ariel mumbled bitterly.

"It's like a name in a fairy tale," the Doctor grinned. "Are we in Scotland, Amelia?"

"Oh, please don't be Edinburgh," Ariel breathed. She didn't want to revisit the city that held her dead mother anytime soon.

"No," Amelia sighed and shook her head. "We had to move to England. It's rubbish."

"I had to move to Scotland," Ariel nodded in understanding. "I was miserable," she said.

"Ah, the English girl who moved to Scotland and the Scottish girl who moved to England. What a combo," the Doctor hummed.

"Yeah, I can definitely see them making some odd sitcom out of that one," Ariel chuckled.

The Doctor laughed and turned to Amelia with a soft smile. "So what about your Mum and Dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now," he observed, dipping another fish finger into the custard. "Especially with Miss Parsons screaming for me the second she walked in."

"I couldn't help it. I was wet, angry, and had smoke in my lungs," Ariel shrugged as she wrapped one of the towels around her body and scooting her chair up to the table.

"I don't have a Mum and Dad. Just an Aunt," Amelia shrugged.

"I don't even have an aunt," the Doctor sighed.

"You're lucky," Amelia nodded, grimacing as she thought back on her own aunt.

"I know," the Doctor nodded with a small smirk.

"I just have an Uncle," Ariel shrugged as she grabbed a fish finger from the Doctor's bowl. "Believe me, they're worse," she sighed.

"So, your Aunt, where is she?" the Doctor wondered, swatting Ariel's gingers away from a fish finger he wanted to grab as she giggled.

"She's out," Amelia said simply.

"And she left you all alone?" the Doctor frowned.

"I'm not scared," Amelia retorted.

Ariel grabbed the apple that Amelia had grabbed for her from the table and swatted the Doctor's fingers away as she grabbed a knife by his side. The pair were all too used to doing everything in each other's space, constantly being mere inches from the other.

Ariel began carving a smiling face into the apple as the Doctor spoke.

"Course, you're not," the Doctor shrugged. "You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of a box, woman falls out of box, man and woman eat fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?" the Doctor prompted.

"What?" Amelia asked.

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall," the Doctor hummed as he took another bite of his fish finger.

"What crack?" Ariel frowned, looking up from carving the face in the apple.

"What are you doing?" Amelia asked, peering over the tub of ice cream to try and get a better look at the apple.

"Oh, the fish custard filled me up so I'm carving a face," Ariel shrugged. "My Dad once did this when I was a kid. I think it was my ninth birthday. Nobody had showed to my party and when I started to cry, my Dad thought of something quick and carved a bunch of smiling faces into apples. I had like this tiny army of smiling apples and it made me laugh so hard I forgot that nobody was there except him and my Mum," Ariel smiled fondly at the memory. "Anyway, I'm getting off track," she shook her head. "What's with this crack?"

"Miss Amelia Pond has a crack in her wall that she wanted a policeman to come over and fix," the Doctor nodded.

"Ah," Ariel hummed. "Well, then what's the hold up? Let's see this scary crack," she smiled.

Amelia lead them up to her bedroom where, along the pale blue wall there was a crack, slightly w shaped and four feet long.

"You've had some cowboys in here," the Doctor remarked, spinning around the room as he took in everything. "Not actual cowboys, though that can happen," he chuckled with a smirk.

"What would space cowboys want with a little girl's bedroom?" Ariel wondered.

"Also a good point," the Doctor smiled and nodded before walking up to the crack in the wall and delicating grazing his fingers along it.

Ariel spun around to Amelia and knelt down before her, holding out the apple with the smiley face she had carved into it.

"Here, you should have this. Keep it for when this crack in your wall gets too scary," Ariel smiled kindly, holding out the apple.

Amelia took the apple and held it, grinning down at the smiling face. "You keep it," Amelia said, holding out the apple. "I'm not scared," she assured her.

"Then you're braver than I am," Ariel giggled. She took the apple back and held it while walking up to the Doctor's side. "Well?" She prompted.

"This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing. Where's the draught coming from?" the Doctor wondered.

"What, like something between this crack and the other side of the wall?" Ariel guessed.

"Possibly," the Doctor hummed. He pulled out his sonic and scanned the wall. He looked down at the readings with wide eyes. "Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?" He asked the girls, glancing at each of them in turn.

"What?" Amelia asked with a slight shrug.

"It's a crack," the Doctor mumbled, frowning at the crack in the wall. "But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall."

"Where is it then?" Amelia asked.

"Everywhere," the Doctor breathed, pressing his ear against the wall curiously and listening. "In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom," he murmured. "Sometimes, can you hear?" He prompted, waving for Ariel to listen by his side.

Ariel pushed Amelia's small desk to the side and pressed her ear up against the wall. There was a faint growling on the other side of the wall, but it sounded odd, like whoever was speaking was under water.

"A voice," Amelia breathed, her voice shaky as she spoke, betraying all the nights she had laid awake listening to that faint growling on the other side of her wall. "Yes," she nodded.

"I need a cup," the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel turned and raised an eyebrow at Amelia. She ran to get her nighttime glass of water and emptied it out, handing it to the pair of them. The Doctor placed the cup in between his ear and the wall and Ariel watched him warily as he listened.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," a muddled, low voice announced.

The Doctor's eyes widened and Ariel just raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, curious as to what the voice was saying.

"What is it?" Ariel asked.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," the Doctor breathed. Ariel's eyes widened. Wherever that crack lead to, they had lost a prisoner and knowing their luck, the Prisoner was probably somewhere nearby on Earth.

"That's what I heard," Amelia nodded. "What does it mean?" She asked.

The Doctor passed the cup to Ariel so she could listen while he turned back to Amelia.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," the voice from the other side of the wall announced.

"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner," the Doctor sighed. "And you know what that means?" He asked.

Ariel pulled away from the wall and put the cup away. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded.

"What?" Amelia asked.

The Doctor and Ariel pulled Amelia's desk away from her wall and stepped back. "You need a better wall," the Doctor muttered. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or," he took a shaky breath and Ariel watched him with wide eyes.

"What?" Amelia prompted.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and stared at Ariel, silently asking her to mend his error. She took a deep breath and knelt down in front of Amelia.

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?" Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Amelia groaned, visibly frustrated with the habit.

"Everything's going to be fine," Ariel lied fluidly with a small shrug.

Amelia narrowed her eyes at the woman, knowing she was lying but not saying anything as she jumped up to the Doctor's side. He used his sonic screwdriver to open the crack and it parted like a wide mouth with an ominous dark lighting flooding the room.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped," the voice announced, much more clear as it spoke but still carrying the same low gravelly tone.

"Hello?" the Doctor prompted. "Hello?"

All of a sudden, a giant blue eyeball swung down and glanced at all, three of them.

Ariel gasped and jumped back at the sight while Amelia stared at it with wide eyes, frozen in shock.

"What's that?" Amelia gasped.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Ariel implored the eyeball.

The eyeball seemed to be scanning the room and moments later a bolt of light hit the Doctor's side and he doubled over. The eyeball watched him for a second before flying back up and closing the crack once again.

The Doctor sat in a chair beside Amelia's bed, fidgeting restlessly for his psychic paper as he grinned at the crack.

Ariel swatted his hand away and pulled out his psychic paper for him while he beamed at Amelia.

"There, you see?" the Doctor smirked. "Told you it would close. Good as new," he nodded.

"What's that thing?" Amelia asked, glancing back and forth between the crack and the Doctor. "Was that Prisoner Zero?"

"No, no, I don't think it was," Ariel sighed, reading the psychic paper and turning it to the Doctor.

"That was Prisoner Zero's guard," the Doctor breathed. "Prisoner Zero has escaped," he read once again. "But why tell us? Unless," his eyes widened as he realized what Ariel was beginning to understand.

"Unless what?" Amelia implored.

"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here," the Doctor murmured. "But he couldn't have. We'd know," he muttered, grabbing Ariel's hand and marching out into the corridor, glancing around the house with wide eyes.

"Could he be hiding?" Ariel guessed with a shrug. "Would there be any way to find him?"

"It's difficult," the Doctor sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as he took a deep breath and stared at the empty corridor. "Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner of my eye," he murmured, beginning to turn slowly.

Before he could turn all the way, out in the garden the Tardis cloister bells tolled loudly.

"Oh, God," Ariel gasped with wide eyes.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor cried. He grabbed Ariel's hand and bolted out into the garden with Amelia chasing after the pair desperately.

"We've got to get back in there!" the Doctor exclaimed. "The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!" He yelled.

"But it's just a box," Amelia sighed. "How can a box have engines?" She wondered.

"How can a box have a library?" Ariel frowned. "Perspective, Amelia!"

"It's not a box," the Doctor snapped, taking great offense whenever someone called his Tardis a box. "It's a time machine," he said.

"What, a real one?" Amelia gasped. "You've got a real time machine?"

"Live in one," Ariel nodded with a small grin.

"Not for much longer if we can't get her stabilised," the Doctor sighed and Ariel inhaled sharply. "Five minute hop into the future should do it," he nodded.

"Can I come?" Amelia asked, fidgeting slightly with clear anxiety over the possibility of traveling into the future.

"Not safe in here. Not yet," the Doctor shook his head.

"Yet, he wants me to go in with him," Ariel chuckled. "Somethings never change," she sighed.

The Doctor chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before turning back to Amelia. "Five minutes," the Doctor assured her. "Give us five minutes, we'll be right back."

"People always say that," Amelia mumbled with a small frown.

Ariel's eyes widened and she sighed softly, grabbing the Doctor's arm before he could crawl back into the Tardis and gesturing to Amelia. The Doctor shrugged slightly and raised an eyebrow, unsure of what he could do. Ariel glared at him and he sighed as he rolled his eyes.

The Doctor took a deep breath and knelt down before Amelia. "Are we people?" The Doctor asked, gesturing between himself and Ariel. "Do we even look like people? Trust me," he nodded. "I'm the Doctor," he smiled.

Ariel grinned at him and he grabbed her hand as they both climbed back onto the Tardis. They stared down at the chaos below with fires raging across the console room and the water from the swimming pool beginning to flood the rooms beyond it.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a smile.

"Geronimo!" the Doctor exclaimed and they both jumped down into the Tardis.

There was a loud splash and moments later the Tardis began to dematerialize before Amelia.


	2. Amelia Pond

Ariel ran through the Tardis wildly, extinguishing various fires as the Doctor fought with the controls. After placing multiple towels across the corridor and putting out the last fire, all that remained was smoke clogging their air. She tossed the extinguisher to the side and flung the doors open to try and let out some of the smoke.

The Doctor had taken them to the year 2020 far away from the city in a field so they wouldn't be distracted. The only reason they were still sitting there was to keep the Tardis from exploding the minute they jumped back to Amelia's.

Ariel turned to the Doctor and narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't look up but she just quietly observed his new face. All the new quirks it possessed, the adorable small smirks when he figured something out.

It was strange looking at him. He looked like an entirely different person, but when he spoke to her, she could still hear her Doctor beneath each of his words.

"You're so different," Ariel remarked.

The Doctor looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Good different?" He prompted.

"I don't know yet," Ariel frowned.

The Doctor sighed softly and looked down. "Do you want to go home?" He asked, trying not to allow the hints of anxiety and hurt creep into his tone at the very idea of losing her when he needed her most.

"I don't even have a home to go back to," Ariel chuckled with a small shrug. Even if she had wanted to go back home, she couldn't. "I can't afford the house I lived in with my Mum." She didn't have a job and it wasn't like she could go back to school without an explanation after months of mysteriously disappearing. She had nowhere left but the Tardis.

"Would you?" the Doctor asked. "I mean, if you could go back to a home, would you?"

Ariel narrowed her eyes at him. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was nervous. He was wringing his hands and watching her with wary eyes. It almost reminded her of before they started dating. The atmosphere surrounding them in the Tardis of pure anxiety, both of them unsure if they should start something that could potentially be heartbreaking. She nearly giggled at the sight of him, he wanted to be perfect for her. She could see it in his very demeanor. He had chosen that face to make her happy. Why else would he make himself look younger?

He didn't want her to leave.

Ariel smiled softly at him and cupped his cheek delicately. "Remember what I told you? I won't leave again unless you want me to," she nodded with a small shrug. She didn't plan on leaving him. Even if the new face had wound up worrying her or making her think he may not look at her the same way, she knew that was his last face. The last Doctor. He would want her to stick around for her. "Do you want me to?"

"No," the Doctor shook his head automatically, his young face innocent and truly concerned at the idea of watching her leave as so many had done before her.

Ariel grinned. "Good, because I really don't want to go," she said, walking up to him and crossing her arms with a small smirk.

The Doctor laughed and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground and twirling her in joy. Ariel giggled as he placed her back on the ground and cupped her cheek delicately.

"No matter what, I never want to lose you," the Doctor said.

"You won't," Ariel assured him with a small smile. "I don't think I could live in a world without my Doctor."

The Doctor smiled softly and brushed her hair out of her eyes, his bright green eyes searching her for a sign that she may just be lying. She may just be trying to keep him happy while she longed for his last face. Finding none, he laughed and pulled her into a tighter hug, sighing in relief that she had truly accepted him.

Regeneration was always tricky, he didn't know who he was going to change into or how he would act around those he loved most. It was especially difficult when someone he cared for as much as Ariel was by his side during the process. He never knew the reaction he would get and he had hoped more than anything that hers was good.

Ariel beamed up at him and ran her fingers through his soft brown hair. "Is it weird that I don't want to go back?" She asked, her tone breathy and cautious. She knew how much the Doctor loved discovering new things and going on adventures and she was worried even after regeneration he wouldn't want to sit still for a moment just so she could learn everything she could about this knew face.

She wanted to memorize every little inch of him. She wanted to learn the way the light of the morning grazed his cheek after they laid in bed together all night. She wanted to see that face in the middle of the night when she couldn't shut her mind off and she wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her when she just wanted somebody to hold onto.

She didn't want to go back to Amelia and uncover more then. She just wanted to take two minutes with her new Doctor.

The Doctor smiled sadly and delicately traced her cheekbone with his thumb, she closed her eyes at the feeling and held his hand, wishing as hard as she could to freeze that moment and just remain there with him forever.

"My Ariel," the Doctor sighed. "You know we have to," he mumbled.

Ariel gulped harshly. In a small hidden paradise, those five words sent her crashing back down to Earth.

"Just promise me this isn't it. Promise we get more," Ariel insisted. She wasn't looking for weeks away from the world with him by her side, she just wanted an hour or so to just be with him.

The Doctor smiled, almost laughing at the sheer simplicity of her wish. It seemed almost odd to watch the woman he would pull the stars out of the sky for asking for just a few minutes alone with him. He nodded, desperately wanting to scream that he would spend years away with her if she just asked. He had regenerated into his last face and he was glad he had chosen it for her.

He took a deep breath and with a pang of regret as he looked down at Ariel's mournful face, he started the time rotors and sent them back to Amelia's house.

As they flew through time and space, the Tardis seemed to grow furious with them for messing with her once again. The walls and console coughed up smoke in sheer agony and Ariel sighed as she ran to get the fire extinguisher once again.

She covered her mouth and nose as a puff of smoke blew into her face.

The Doctor ran up to her and pulled her back to his side as she continued to stand beside the smoke, coughing up her lungs.

"Just leave it," the Doctor insisted. "She probably just wants us to leave her be. I think it's time," he smiled.

"Time for what?" Ariel coughed.

"She's redecorating," the Doctor grinned.

"She's what?!" Ariel exclaimed, her coughs becoming raspy as smoke clogged her lungs.

"Alright, we've gotta get you out of here," the Doctor hummed. He pulled a small rag off the console and passed it to her. "Here, breath into this along the way."

Ariel accepted it gratefully and let out a few small coughs into the rag. "What do you mean she's redecorating?" Ariel asked.

"It usually happens when the Tardis goes through a lot of damage or every few regenerations. She'll redecorate the interior," the Doctor shrugged.

"What, so everything changes?" Ariel prompted.

"Well, not everything," the Doctor sighed. "Though she did add a trapeze last time," he frowned.

"Huh," Ariel said, leaning onto the Tardis as the Doctor piloted them. "New Doctor, new Tardis," she smirked. "Though it is nice that some things stay the same. Too much change at once could drive me round the bend," she chuckled.

The Doctor grinned at her and nodded before his eyes slowly began to widen and his face fell. "He was always there," the Doctor realized.

"Doctor?" Ariel prompted with a small frown. She never found it hard to keep up with the Doctor's sudden change of pace. While some found it maddening, she just persisted in paying attention to him and listening. When she did that, it was easy to talk about fifty different subjects in the span of a few minutes.

It also didn't hurt that their minds were usually on the same track so even if he was in the middle of a thought when he changed the subject, she was able to follow him.

"He was always there. We left her alone and he was always there," the Doctor breathed.

Ariel immediately fell into his train of thought and her eyes widened. "But he didn't hurt her when we were there, why would he wait?" She wondered. "And where would he even hide?"

"The door," the Doctor murmured. He slammed his hand down on the console and Ariel jumped at the violent action. She grabbed his hand delicately and glanced up at him with wide eyes.

"There's no point in blaming yourself, Doctor. We'll save her," Ariel assured him. "But what door?"

"There was a door just behind the stairs. I couldn't see it right away because there's a perception filter over it, but that's probably where he's hiding," the Doctor said, taking deep breaths as he glanced down at Ariel.

"Okay," Ariel nodded. "So we need to get to that door," she said.

"And fast," the Doctor agreed with a nod.

The Tardis shook once again as the Doctor commanded her to move faster and after a lot of shaking them around in anger, they landed with a troubled wheezing.

The Doctor held out his hand to Ariel and smiled. Ariel took his hand and they ran out as the Tardis doors slammed shut behind them.

"Amelia! Amelia, we worked out what it was!" the Doctor called, running out of the Tardis and up to the front door. "I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!" He cried, pulling out his screwdriver and trying to sonic open the door.

It blipped and it's normal whirring sounded like odd coughs from the poor device.

"I'm guessing the sonic isn't doing too well after the swimming pool," Ariel remarked.

"Oh, that's the least of my concerns right now," the Doctor sighed. Eventually, he got the door open and grabbed Ariel's hand. "Come on," he muttered.

They ran inside and peered around the small house. "Amelia!" Ariel called.

"Amelia?" the Doctor frowned. He turned to Ariel and grabbed her hand. He gave her a short nod and the pair ran up the stairs to Amelia's bedroom door. "Amelia, are you alright? Are you there?" He asked, sonicking the door in worry.

"Amelia, you're in danger!" Ariel cried.

"Prisoner Zero's here. Prisoner Zero is here!" the Doctor exclaimed with a frantic nod. "Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is-."

The pair turned around and were both met with a large wooden cricket bat to their faces, knocking them out cold.

The ginger woman, dropped the bat and stared at the pair with wide eyes. "No," she breathed, stepping up to them and unable to take her eyes off them.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. It wasn't possible. They were wearing the same clothes. They couldn't be the mermaid and raggedy doctor from her childhood.

She pulled the cuffs out of her kissogram outfit and chained one hand onto Ariel first. She figured the young woman would be easiest to carry down the corridor.

She looped the cuffs around the radiator and dragged the Doctor to Ariel's side. She cuffed his hand and stepped back with a sigh. As she did so, Ariel's head dropped onto the Doctor's shoulder and his body seemed to drift closer to her. The ginger woman just rolled her eyes. If they were the couple from her childhood, they certainly bore the same unbreakable relationship she had fantasized about.

She took a deep breath and glanced around the corridor. If she was really going to sell it as a policewoman, she was going to need a radio.

* * *

Ariel woke up with a groan and tried to lift her head up, but something heavy was weighing down on it. She glanced to her side and saw the Doctor's worn out blue shirt and ratty tie. She sighed softly and rubbed her forehead, wincing at the quick stab of pain she felt.

She rubbed the Doctor's chest gently at first before softly tapping him to wake him up.

The Doctor moaned and sat up, pulling at his hand to try and clutch the pain in his head. Instead, there was a loud metal clang and an outcry of pain from Ariel.

The Doctor frowned and peered around his shoulder to see himself and Ariel handcuffed to a radiator. He looked up and spotted a young woman with ginger hair pulled back in a policewoman outfit, speaking into a radio.

"White male, mid twenties, and brunette female, early twenties, breaking and entering. Send me some back-up. I've got them restrained," the woman said and her eyes widened as she spotted the couple staring up at her. "Oi! The pair of you, sit still," she ordered.

The Doctor frowned and licked his lips. "Cricket bat. I'm getting cricket bat."

"Are you honestly telling me we were knocked out with a cricket bat?" Ariel sighed.

"Either that or someone just tapped my face with it a lot with I was unconscious," the Doctor shrugged.

"Why on earth would you knock us out with a cricket bat?!" Ariel exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at the policewoman.

"You were breaking and entering," the woman snapped at them.

"What did we break?" Ariel scoffed. "We just entered."

"Actually, no, that's much better," the Doctor grinned. "Brand new me. Whack on the head, just what I needed," he smirked at Ariel and she giggled and nodded with him.

"Do the pair of you want to shut up now?" The woman asked with a thick Scottish accent. "I've got back up on the way," she nodded.

"Why are we handcuffed to a radiator?" Ariel wondered.

"Hang on, no, wait. You're a policewoman," the Doctor said, pointing a finger at the woman.

"And you're breaking and entering," the woman nodded. "See how this works?" She prompted.

"Once again, we weren't breaking anything," Ariel mumbled. "But technicalities."

"But what are you doing here?" the Doctor asked. "Where's Amelia?" He wondered.

The policewoman's face fell and she stood up a bit straighter as she stared at the Doctor and Ariel.

"Amelia Pond?" She said.

"Yeah, Amelia," the Doctor nodded. "Little Scottish girl."

"Short, red-hair, hates England," Ariel added with a nod. "Ringing any bells?"

"Where is she?" the Doctor asked. "We promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing," he sighed. "I suppose we must have gone a bit far. Has something happened to her?"

"Oh, please let her be alright," Ariel murmured. "She was hilarious," she smiled.

"Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time," the policewoman sighed.

"How long?" the Doctor asked.

The policewoman shifted awkwardly and glanced down to avoid their persevering gazes looking up at her. "Six months," she muttered, looking up momentarily to measure their reactions.

Both sets of eyes widened and they shared a look of sheer horror at the idea that the poor little girl could be waiting for them for six months.

"Oh, my God," Ariel breathed.

"No. No. No," the Doctor shook his head, refusing to accept the information. "No, we can't be six months late. We said five minutes," he insisted. "I promised. What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?" He asked desperately.

The policewoman took a deep breath and pulled out her radio once again. "Sarge, it's me again. Hurry it up. These two know something about Amelia Pond," she said.

The Doctor shook his head and sighed in frustration. If he had been standing up, he would've stamped his foot like an angry child.

"I need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now," the Doctor insisted.

"I live here," the policewoman replied, nodding simply.

"But you're the police," the Doctor frowned.

Ariel snorted. "Doctor, the police have homes too," she said.

"Yes, and this is where I live," the policewoman sighed. "Have you got a problem with that?" She prompted, raising an eyebrow at the pair of them.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. "How many rooms?" He asked and Ariel turned to her with large eyes.

"I'm sorry, what?" The policewoman implored with a frown.

"In the corridor," Ariel said.

"On this floor," the Doctor nodded. "How many rooms on this floor? Count them for me now," he instructed.

"Why?" The policewoman wondered.

"Because it will change your life," the Doctor breathed.

"Just do this for us," Ariel insisted.

The policewoman narrowed her eyes at the pair and stood up straighter, placing her hands on her hips like an angry parent as she frowned down at them. "Five," she said confidently. "One, two, three, four, five," she counted, pointing to each room in turn, though never glancing at the rooms.

"Wrong," Ariel said and the policewoman's confident smile dropped.

"Six," the Doctor corrected.

"Six?" The policewoman echoed with a frown.

"Look," the Doctor nodded behind her and she spun around still not seeing the room hidden from her view.

"Look where?" The policewoman shook her head, not seeing where the Doctor and Ariel were seeing a sixth room.

"Exactly where you don't want to look. Where you never want to look. The corner of your eye. Look behind you," the Doctor instructed, speaking breathlessly as he stared at the room with wide eyes.

The policewoman did as he said, turning slowly with wary eyes, anxious of what she may see when she looked in the direction she had been avoided her whole life.

The policewoman inhaled sharply, staring at the door with wide eyes. "That's, that is not possible," she breathed. "How's that possible?" She wondered, spinning back around to the couple.

"There's a perception filter all round the door," the Doctor explained quickly. "Sensed it the last time I was here. Should've seen it," he sighed.

"It's not your fault," Ariel reminded him.

"It's always my fault," the Doctor murmured.

"But that's a whole room," the policewoman shook her head, turning back to the door and keeping her eyes fixated on it. "That's a whole room I've never even noticed."

"The filter stops you noticing," the Doctor shrugged. "Something came a while ago to hide. It's still hiding, and you need to uncuff us now," he insisted.

"I don't have the key," the policewoman breathed, shaking her head uselessly. "I lost it."

"What?!" Ariel exclaimed, tugging on the cuffs and gaining nothing but the Doctor's arm growing bruised on the radiator.

The Doctor hardly noticed as he watched the policewoman slowly tiptoe toward the door with wide eyes. "How can you have lost it?!" He cried.

"Why are you going to the door?!" Ariel yelled, dumbfounded by the sheer recklessness the woman was portraying. If you find a hidden room in your house that a man warned was dangerous, you don't run straight into the room, you wait and figure out what's inside. Then you go running straight into the room.

"Stay away from that door!" the Doctor snapped. "Do not touch that door! Listen to me," he practically begged as the woman stood mere inches away from the doorknob. "Do not open that," he instructed as she turned the doorknob and opened the creaking door. The Doctor groaned and hung his head. He glanced at Ariel, eyes fixated on the woman as she stepped inside. "Why does no-one ever listen to me?" He wondered. "Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?"

Ariel turned to him with a small smirk and glanced across his face. She shrugged. "A bit, yeah," she nodded.

"Again," the Doctor sighed.

"Ah, it wasn't as bad last time," Ariel muttered.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He always knew when she was lying. Especially when it was that obvious.

"Alright," Ariel giggled. "It was pretty bad," she confessed. "But your ninth face was worse."

"Touché," the Doctor shrugged.

"Hold on, before she knocked us out we were right by that door. Maybe, your screwdriver's in there," Ariel suggested.

"Worth a shot," the Doctor sighed. "My screwdriver, where is it?" the Doctor called to the policewoman. "Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?" He asked.

"There's nothing here," the policewoman said from within the room.

"Well, then you should get out of there," Ariel muttered. "There's nothing good in that room," she told her.

"Whatever's there stopped you seeing the room," the Doctor nodded. "What makes you think you could see it?" He wondered. "Now please, just get out."

"Silver, blue at the end?" The woman called.

"Yeah," Ariel frowned.

"My screwdriver," the Doctor nodded.

"It's here," the woman said.

"Then I was right," Ariel smirked.

"Must have rolled under the door," the Doctor shrugged. "Like you said, probably fell out of my hands when we were hit with the cricket bat."

"Yeah. Must have. And then it must have jumped up on the table," the policewoman breathed, staring at the screwdriver as fear gripped her heart.

The Doctor and Ariel turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Get out of there!" They both screamed at the policewoman.

"Get out of there!" the Doctor cried.

"Get out!" Ariel shouted.

In the room, the policewoman picked up the Doctor's screwdriver, covered almost completely in alien gunk. She winced and rubbed the substance on her skirt.

"Get out of there!" the Doctor yelled.

"Why are you still in there?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked. "What are you doing?"

"There's nothing here," the policewoman breathed. "But-," she hesitated.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the doorway. "Corner of your eye," he hummed.

"What is it?" The policewoman mumbled, glancing around the room rapidly looking for it.

"Don't stay in there looking for it!" Ariel reprimanded like an angry mother.

"Don't try to see it," the Doctor agreed with a nod. "If it knows you've seen it, it will kill you. Don't look at it. Do not look."

"Just leave!" Ariel yelled.

There was a loud scream from within the room and Ariel and the Doctor stared at the door with wide eyes, both lurching forward as though they could pull off the chain off the cuffs and run towards her.

"Get out!" the Doctor shouted.

The policewoman bolted out of the room and tossed the screwdriver to the Doctor.

Ariel immediately pulled up the cuffs for the Doctor to sonic and he rattled the screwdriver roughly as he tried to free them.

"It's not working," Ariel sighed.

"Come on," the Doctor moaned, hitting the screwdriver against his palm. "What's the bad alien done to you?"

"Don't blame the alien," Ariel murmured. "It was acting up before we got back here."

"Just my luck, right after I get a new face I need a new screwdriver too," the Doctor grumbled.

The policewoman seemed to be ignoring the pair of them, just staring at the door to the hidden room with wide eyes. "Will that door hold it?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course," the Doctor shrugged. "It's an interdimensional multiform from outer space. They're all terrified of wood," he quipped.

"Well, the screwdriver is," Ariel mumbled.

"Oi, shut it!" the Doctor snapped and Ariel laughed.

Just then, there was an odd bright light from the cracks around the door in the hidden room.

"What's that? What's it doing?" The policewoman asked desperately, glancing between the couple and the light coming from the door.

"I don't know. Getting dressed?" the Doctor guessed with a smile at Ariel and she snickered.

Ariel glanced up at the woman and saw her looking down at them with wide, terrified eyes.

"You don't need to worry about it," Ariel said with a small shrug.

"She's right," the Doctor nodded. "Run. Just go. Your back up's coming. We'll be fine," he assured her.

"We'd be fine without the back up, but alright," Ariel mumbled.

"There is no back up," the policewoman sighed.

"What?" Ariel frowned.

"We heard you on the radio," the Doctor insisted with a nod. "You called for back up," he said.

"I was pretending," the woman shrugged. "It was a pretend radio."

"Why do you have a pretend radio?" Ariel wondered.

"You're a policewoman," the Doctor reminded her with a small frown.

"I'm a kissogram!" The woman cried and removed her cap to reveal long red hair not even held up in a bun like normal policewomen.

"Blimey, they send policewomen as kissograms, now?" Ariel murmured with a frown.

The woman just rolled her eyes as the door slammed down and a balding man in blue overalls stood on it with a dog by his side.

"But it's just," the woman breathed.

"No, it can't be," Ariel shook her head.

"It isn't," the Doctor confirmed with a nod. "Look at the faces."

The man in overalls seemed to be growling at them, then he barked loudly making them all jump slightly with wide eyes.

"What?" The woman gasped. "I'm sorry, but what?"

"That is weird to look at," Ariel remarked, wincing at the barking man. "How is it doing that?" She wondered, glancing at the Doctor curiously.

Ariel grinned as she watched his face light up. He loved answering questions, especially the ones he knew the answer to. It was like telling others about a good day he had. It just made him happy to talk about.

Occasionally, Ariel would ask him questions she already knew the answer to, not to seem daft but to just watch his face light up as he explained it. She wasn't going to stand in the way of something making him happy.

"It's all one creature," the Doctor said. "One creature disguised as two. Clever old multi-form," he hummed. "A bit of a rush job, though. Got the voice a bit muddled, did you? Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, a live feed. How did you fix that?" He called to the creature.

Rather than responding, it barked a few times and opened its mouth, snarling very unlike an ordinary dog and revealing long needle-like teeth.

Ariel sucked in a sharp breath and pressed her back into the radiator painfully as she watched the man with wide eyes.

"Please tell me you got the sonic working," Ariel muttered.

"Not exactly," the Doctor winced, his expression mirroring Ariel's as he watched the man.

"Then what's the plan?" Ariel asked.

"Improvise?" the Doctor offered with a shrug.

"Oh, God," Ariel moaned.

"Stay, boy!" the Doctor snapped at the man and he didn't heel so much as stare at the Doctor like he was a madman. "The three of us, we're safe. Want to know why? She sent for back up," he nodded, jabbing a thumb at the woman who stared down at him in horror.

"I didn't send for back up!" The woman hissed.

"Oh, shit," Ariel sighed. That plan went down the toilet quickly.

"I know," the Doctor nodded, frowning up at the woman. "That was a clever lie to save our lives," he said and she seemed slightly apologetic for screwing it up. "Okay, yeah, no back up," he shrugged. "And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we had back up, you'd have to kill us," he nodded.

"Attention, Prisoner Zero," a booming voice over the house called. "The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded."

"Oh, thank God," Ariel sighed. "Your improvising is rubbish."

"Oi, work with it," the Doctor snapped and she snickered.

"Wait, what is that?" The woman asked, trying to peer out the window and see the source of the voice.

"Well, that would be back up," the Doctor smiled. "Okay, one more time," he corrected. "We do have back up and that's definitely why we're safe."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated," the voice warned.

"Okay, almost safe," Ariel resigned.

"Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration," the Doctor shrugged.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

"Please, tell me the screwdriver is working now," Ariel murmured.

"Come on, work, work, work, come on," the Doctor muttered, hitting the screwdriver roughly.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

Ariel hit the screwdriver a few times as well and eventually it sparked to life and they were able to free themselves from their handcuffs.

"Finally!" Ariel exclaimed. She jumped into the Doctor's arms and hugged him tightly. He grinned and hugged her back just as tight before pulling away and grabbing her hand.

"Run! Run!" the Doctor yelled, glancing back at the red-haired woman.

They all ran across the corridor and down the steps. They darted out the front door before Prisoner Zero could even realize they had left.

"Alright, so you're a policewoman kissogram?" Ariel clarified, spinning back to the woman who rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed they were still on the subject.

"Yes," the woman sighed.

"Kissogram?" the Doctor frowned.

"Yes, a kissogram," she rolled her eyes. "Work through it."

"Why'd you pretend to be a policewoman?" the Doctor wondered.

"You broke into my house. It was this or a French maid!" The woman exclaimed.

"See, I remember French maids being kissograms," Ariel nodded. There was a sharp barking behind them and Ariel's eyes widened. "I think it saw us!" She cried.

"Come on!" the Doctor yelled, pulling her into the garden.

"What's going on?" The woman asked. "Tell me," she demanded. "Tell me!" She insisted.

"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house," the Doctor explained rapidly. "Any questions?" He prompted.

"Yes!" The woman snapped.

"Me too," the Doctor murmured. He ran up to the door of the Tardis and yanked on the handle only to find it was still locked. "No, no, no, no!" He cried. "Don't do that, not now!"

"What is it?" Ariel asked.

"It's still rebuilding," the Doctor mumbled. "Not letting us in," he said, kicking the door lightly with his foot.

"Well, kicking it won't help," Ariel frowned.

"I'm agitated," the Doctor moaned.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

The woman glanced at them and a small pathway behind the gard. "Come on," she said, nodding them to their escape route.

Before they could follow her, the Doctor noticed a fully built shed standing in the back of the garden. He stared marching over to it and Ariel's eyes widened at the sight.

"How is that possible?" Ariel breathed. The shed standing in the garden looked old. Much older than what would happen if it had only been six months.

"We destroyed that shed last time we were here," the Doctor nodded, marching over to it and inspecting the shed carefully. "Smashed it to pieces," he remembered.

"So there's a new one," the woman sighed with a small shrug. "Let's go," she insisted, waving the couple down the pathway.

"Yeah, but the new one's got old. It's ten years old at least," the Doctor shrugged. He licked the shed and Ariel stepped forward, raising a curious eyebrow at him. She had grown all too used to the Doctor's strange habits of smelling the air and telling her the date, sniffing out other Time Lords and apparently licking sheds and telling her how old they are. "Twelve years," he said and Ariel's eyes widened. "We're not six months late, we're twelve years late."

"Well, then why did she say six months? That's far too big of a difference to get it mixed up," Ariel remarked.

The woman just glanced across the garden and spotted Prisoner Zero, barking at them from the doorway. "He's coming," she breathed.

"No, but wait you said six months," Ariel frowned.

"Why did you say six months?" The Doctor wondered.

"We've got to go," the woman insisted.

"No, hang on a minute!" Ariel snapped. "We're not just going to let go of this," she said.

"This matters," the Doctor nodded. "This is important. Why did you say six months?" He asked.

"Why did you say five minutes?!" The woman exclaimed.

Both the Doctor and Ariel's faces fell.

"No," Ariel breathed.

"What?" the Doctor gasped with wide eyes.

It couldn't be. Amelia Pond? She hit them with a cricket bat? She chained them to a radiator? It almost seemed impossible and yet as Ariel looked at the girl, she couldn't help but see little Amelia Pond in every inch of her.

"Come on," Amelia breathed.

"I'm sorry, what?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"What?" the Doctor said, nodding in agreement.

"Come on!" Amelia yelled. She grabbed each of their hands and dragged them out of the garden as they walked alongside her, gaping at the little girl they had known barely an hour ago.

"What?" the Doctor said once again, expressing the sheer disbelief they both felt in that situation perfectly.


	3. Never Grow Up

"Is she actually Amelia?!" Ariel exclaimed, running along the village lane by the Doctor's side.

"She's Amelia," the Doctor nodded. "You're Amelia."

"I'm Amelia and you two are late," Amelia snapped, not even sparing a glance back at them as they ran behind her.

Upon a single glance, Amelia looked like an irate mother trying to deal with her two nosy children on any ordinary evening.

"She is!" Ariel exclaimed with a triumphant grin. "She's Amelia Pond!"

"Amelia Pond," the Doctor breathed, watching her with wide eyes.

Amelia simply rolled her eyes and wished the pair of them would stop saying her name like it's the winning lottery numbers.

"You're the little girl," the Doctor nodded.

"Well, twelve years later," Ariel mumbled with a small shrug.

"Right," the Doctor sighed. "But still," he insisted.

"Yes, I'm Amelia and you two are late!" Amelia snapped once again, momentarily spinning around to glare at them and wipe them smiles off their faces.

"What happened?" the Doctor wondered.

"Twelve years," Amelia deadpanned.

"That's a lot of happen," Ariel remarked with a small yet amused smirk. The Doctor snickered and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they continued walking.

"But you hit us with a cricket bat," the Doctor remembered with a small frown.

"Twelve years," Amelia repeated with wide eyes.

"Getting that," Ariel nodded. "Still-."

"A cricket bat," the Doctor finished. Amelia rolled her eyes when she remembered how they spoke as though they were two halves of the same person. When she got a bit older, she had grown to be severely jealous of Ariel. She wasn't sure if it was because she thought she may never have a relationship like that, or because she had a crush on the Doctor, but either way she didn't miss hearing them act so perfect together.

"Twelve years and four psychiatrists," Amelia sighed.

"Four?" the Doctor frowned.

"That's a bit much," Ariel remarked.

"I kept biting them," Amelia mumbled, shrugging nonchalantly as though it were no big deal.

"Why?" the Doctor wondered.

"Yeah, of all the things why biting?" Ariel asked with a small frown. "I would've stuck with hitting," she began and caught the Doctor's wide eyed warning gaze. "But that's neither here nor there. We're talking about you now," she nodded with a quick smile.

The Doctor nodded and grinned at her and she held back laughter as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

"They said neither of you were real," Amelia shrugged and the couple beamed at her.

All of a sudden after crackling from a speaker off to their right a familiar phrase came ringing out.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat."

They all turned to see an ice cream vendor in his van frowning at his speakers and hitting it as though that would solve all his problems.

"Oh, God," Ariel sighed.

"They can't be," the Doctor murmured. "Come on," he nodded. He grabbed Ariel's hand while Amelia stared after them with wide eyes.

"Are we seriously being staked out by an ice cream van?" Amelia moaned.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

The ice cream man looked completely irritated at the voice repeating the same words in his speakers and the Doctor peered at it with a small frown.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked. "Why are you playing that?"

"It's supposed to be Clair De Lune," the man shrugged innocently.

Ariel turned as she heard the same voice echoing from elsewhere. She looked to see a man sitting on the pavement beside a small radio tapping it curiously as it repeated the same words.

Ariel tapped the Doctor's shoulders and gestured to him with wide eyes. "I don't think it's just the ice cream van, Doctor," Ariel murmured.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

A woman jogging skidded to a stop as she pulled out her earphones and glanced at them curiously. She grabbed her iPod and tried to see if there was anything visibly wrong with it.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Amelia breathed.

"It's everywhere," Ariel gasped.

The Doctor clenched his jaw and turned to a small house in the distance. He narrowed his eyes at it and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Where are we going?!" Ariel cried, running by his side and hopping over the fence surrounding the house as he did the same.

"We need to figure out just out wide this thing stretches," the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel nodded and he flung open the door without even knocking, running into the living room where an elderly woman was jabbing at her remote trying to change the channel.

On the screen there was a large eyeball glancing around awkwardly as though it was peering into the room through the screen. Ariel's eyes widened and she tugged on the Doctor's arm.

"Isn't that Prisoner Zero's guard?" Ariel murmured.

"I think it is, yes," the Doctor mumbled with a small nod.

"Might I ask, who are the two of you?" The elderly woman asked, frowning at the couple.

"Hello!" the Doctor exclaimed, a large grin automatically stretching across his lips. "Sorry to burst in. We're doing a special on television faults in this area," he explained rapidly, until Amelia came rushing in, panting in her policewoman outfit. Ariel simply snickered at the sight and the ginger shot her a warning glare. "Also crimes," the Doctor shrugged awkwardly. He took a deep breath and grabbed the remote from the hands of the elderly woman. "Let's have a look," he sighed.

Ariel stepped up to his side and peered at the remote with him, glancing at the television as he changed the channels.

"I was just about to phone," the elderly woman said. "It's on every channel," she told them then jumped back a bit at the sight of Amelia as though she was just noticing the woman's presence. "Oh, hello, Amy dear. Are you a policewoman now?" She asked politely.

"Well, sometimes," Amelia sighed with a small shrug.

"I thought you were a nurse," the elderly woman remarked, narrowing her eyes at the ginger.

"I can be a nurse," Amelia shrugged.

"Or actually a nun?" The elderly woman prompted with a frown.

"I dabble," Amelia laughed nervously, glancing at the Doctor and Ariel and silently begging them to finish whatever they needed to do there.

The elderly woman sighed and shook her head, glancing at the couple and Amy with a small smile. "Amy, who are your friends?" She asked.

"Amy?" Ariel frowned.

"Who's Amy?" the Doctor muttered, looking back at Amy with a raised eyebrow. "You were Amelia," he said as though she had forgotten her first name.

"Yeah?" Amy shrugged. "Now, I'm Amy," she nodded.

"Amelia Pond," the Doctor sighed. "That was a great name."

"Bit fairytale," Amy scoffed, glaring at the Doctor. The Doctor sucked in a sharp breath and shook his head, turning away from her.

The older woman stepped up to the pair of them and narrowed her eyes at the couple. "I know you, don't I?" She smiled. "Both of you," she nodded. "I've seen you somewhere before."

"Not me," the Doctor shook his head. "Brand new face," he grinned. "First time on," he nodded to the woman before turning back to Amy in a split second with a small frown and raised eyebrow. "And what sort of job's a kissogram?" He asked.

Amy's eyes widened and she seemed blindsided by the rapid change in conversation.

"Just go with it, it saves more time," Ariel nodded with a small smile as she grabbed the Doctor's hand and squeezed tightly.

"I go to parties and I kiss people," Amy mumbled with a shrug. "With outfits. It's a laugh," she insisted.

The Doctor seemed horrified by the very concept. Like an angry father telling off his daughter.

"You were a little girl five minutes ago!" the Doctor cried.

"You're worse than my Aunt," Amy moaned with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm the Doctor, I'm worse than everybody's Aunt!" the Doctor exclaimed and Ariel burst out laughing. He spun back around to the elderly woman. "And that is not how I'm introducing myself."

"I've seen weirder," Ariel remarked with a small shrug, smirking up at the Doctor.

"Yes, but I'm not trying to let everyone meet me the same way Princess Victoria did," the Doctor chuckled.

"Oh, I think you screaming and running into Buckingham Palace with an Antipoi stuck to your leg is a great first impression," Ariel giggled.

The Doctor chuckled and wrapped an arm around her while Amy and the elderly woman shared a confused look.

The Doctor turned to the radio behind the elderly woman's sofa and began tuning it to different channels. There was a crackle of static and the same voice spoke loudly with an accent.

"Repetez. Le Prisonnier. Zero wird der menschliche," the voice said.

"It's not just England then," Ariel muttered.

"No, it's everywhere," the Doctor sighed. "In every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world," he hummed. He grabbed Ariel's hand and marched out to the window, peering up at the sky.

"What's up there? What are you looking for?" Amy asked, running up behind the couple.

"How long have we got?" Ariel wondered, glancing at the Doctor and the sky with wide eyes.

"How long have we got until what?" Amy asked.

"Okay," the Doctor sighed, raking his fingers through his floppy hair. "Planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core? They're going to need a forty percent fission blast."

A young man walked in just then and stood at the entrance of the living room. Rather than getting a proper introduction, the Doctor just walked up to him and started bouncing ideas off the bloke as the man looked at him and Ariel with a frown.

"But they'll have to power up first, won't they?" the Doctor mumbled. "So assuming a medium sized starship, that's 20 minutes. What do you think, twenty minutes?" the Doctor asked, rambling but still finding a second to take a breath and ask Ariel.

"Just about," Ariel shrugged.

"Yeah, twenty minutes," the Doctor nodded. "We've got twenty minutes," he sighed.

"Twenty minutes to what?" Amy asked.

"Are you the Doctor and Ariel?" The man asked and Ariel turned to Amy with a frown.

How many people in that town had actually heard about them?

"They are, aren't they?" The elderly woman gasped. "He's the Doctor! The Raggedy Doctor. And she's Ariel. Ariel the mermaid. All those cartoons you did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor and Ariel the mermaid. It's them," she smiled.

"And here I was thinking I got rid of the bloody mermaid in school," Ariel moaned.

"Shut up," Amy hissed to the elderly woman and the young man.

"Cartoons?" the Doctor frowned.

"Oh, blimey," Ariel sighed.

"Gran, it's them, isn't it?" The young man said with wide eyes. "It's really them!" He exclaimed.

"Jeff, shut up," Amy snapped. "Twenty minutes to what?" She asked once again.

"The human residence will be incinerated. Repeat," the eyeball on the screen said.

"Exactly that," Ariel murmured, nodding to the screen.

"The human residence," the Doctor hummed. "They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the planet. Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship, and it's going to incinerate the planet."

"-Will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

"Twenty minutes to the end of the world," the Doctor sighed and Amy's eyes widened.

"Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated."

"Right, well, no time to waste then," Ariel said. She muted the television and turned to the elderly woman and Jeff. "It's been a pleasure. Sorry, we couldn't stay longer but we have to stop an alien ship from blowing up the planet. Doctor?"

The Doctor snickered and grabbed her hand and the pair ran outside. Amy smiled and waved goodbye awkwardly at Jeff and his gran before running out after them.

The Doctor glanced around the streets, sulking at the barren neighbourhood as he walked.

"You look adorable even sulking," Ariel giggled. "That's completely not fair."

The Doctor's cheeks pinkened as he chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Amy ran up to their side and he frowned at her. "What is this place?" the Doctor asked, waving to the neighbourhood surrounding them. "Where are we?"

"Leadworth," Amy replied.

Ariel snorted. There was quite literally nothing in Leadworth. If she had grown up in quiet places, then Leadworth was mute.

"Where's the rest of it?" the Doctor asked furiously, seeming to be genuinely curious why the place was so small.

"This is it," Amy shrugged. She didn't seem fazed by the question. In fact, it looked like she had been asking the same thing all her life.

"Not much to it," Ariel murmured. The Doctor scoffed and nodded.

"Is there an airport?" the Doctor asked.

"No," Amy said.

"A nuclear power station?" the Doctor tried.

"No," Amy shook her head.

"Even a little one?" The Doctor hoped.

"Not a chance," Ariel scoffed.

"Nearest city?" The Doctor asked.

"Gloucester. Half an hour by car," Amy replied.

"We don't have half an hour," the Doctor snapped. "Do we have a car?"

Amy and Ariel shared a look before both shaking their heads. "No," the women said in unison.

"Well, that's good!" The Doctor exclaimed sarcastically, the tension beginning to set in. "Fantastic, that is. Twenty minutes to save the world and all I've got is a post office. And it's shut!" He cried. "What is that?!" He yelled, marching over to a small pond in the distance.

"Is he always like this?" Amy frowned.

"Usually just when he's stressed out," Ariel shrugged. "Which is almost always."

"Well?" the Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a duck pond," Amy shrugged.

"Why aren't there any ducks?" the Doctor asked, gesturing to the empty pond.

Ariel raised an eyebrow and turned to Amy and the ginger shifted uncomfortably under their gazes.

"I don't know," Amy sighed, shrugging as she glanced down at the pond. "There's never any ducks."

"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" the Doctor wondered.

"It just is," Amy mumbled. "Is it important, the duck pond?" She implored.

Before the Doctor could answer, a pang in his chest sent him falling backwards as he winced in pain.

Ariel's eyes widened and she ran to his side, helping him to sit on the pavement as he groaned in pain.

"What's wrong?" Ariel asked, her tone breathy and concerned as she brushed the Doctor's hair out of his eyes and stared at him with wide eyes.

"I don't know," the Doctor murmured. "Why would I know? This is too soon. I'm not ready, I'm not done yet," he breathed.

"Doctor, this is your last face," Ariel reminded him.

He glanced up at her with wide eyes, communicating the emotion she had never seen him show anybody but her. Fear.

"I know," the Doctor nodded.

All of a sudden, the sky began to grow dark despite it only being noon. Amy stepped forward and frowned up at the sky.

"What's happening?" Amy asked. "Why's it going dark?"

The Doctor winced and Ariel helped him to his feet. She glanced up at him and smiled softly, squeezing his hand tightly and reassuring him that no matter what happened she would stay by his side.

He grinned at the comfort.

In front of the sun, a black disk appeared, blocking out the light like someone had placed their hand in front of it and was blocking out the light to the earth.

"What's wrong with the sun?" Amy asked.

"Nothing," the Doctor sighed, leaning his weight on Ariel so he could stand up properly. "You're looking at it through a forcefield."

"It's them isn't it?" Ariel guessed.

"They've sealed off your upper atmosphere," the Doctor nodded. "Now they're getting ready to boil the planet," he said and Ariel sucked in a sharp breath. They watched as, walking into the field just in front of them, they saw dozens of people all pointing their cameras at the sun. Rather than panicking, they all wanted to get it on video. Ariel almost laughed at the thought. "Oh, and here they come. The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone," the Doctor spat.

Amy glanced at the group of people then looked back at the couple with a small frown. "This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind up," Amy insisted.

"Why would we wind you up?" the Doctor frowned.

"Not much of a laugh," Ariel remarked.

"You told me you two lived in a time machine," Amy remembered.

"We do," Ariel nodded.

"And you believed us," the Doctor reminded her.

"Then I grew up," Amy nodded.

"Oh, that's the worst," Ariel moaned and the Doctor chuckled and nodded.

"You never want to do that," the Doctor hummed, shaking his head at Amy.

Just then, his eyes widened and he looked up at the field, narrowing his eyes at the people holding up their phones and holding up a single finger to silence the women.

"No. Hang on. Shut up. Wait. I missed it. I saw it and I missed it. What did I see? I saw. What did I see? I saw, I saw, I saw," the Doctor murmured. He focused in on the field and dug through his memory as Ariel watched him in awe.

The Doctor jumped as though he had been shocked and stared down at Ariel with a grin. She raised an eyebrow and he simply nodded happily at her. They could do it.

The Doctor turned to Amy and took a deep breath. "Twenty minutes," he sighed. "I can do it," he assured her with a nod. "Twenty minutes, the planet burns. Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help us."

Amy clenched her jaw and stared at the couple. "No," she said.

The Doctor glanced down at Ariel with a small frown as though she might clarify things for him. "I'm sorry?" the Doctor prompted.

"No!" Amy shouted.

Amy grabbed the Doctor's tie and dragged him down to the car park and he looked at Ariel with wide eyes, silently asking her what to do.

Ariel bolted after the Doctor as he pulled on his tie and tried to get it out of Amy's grip.

"Amy, what are you doing?!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Amy, seriously, you can't do that!" Ariel cried.

Amy ignored the pair of them and opened the door to one of the cars just pulled in. She slammed his tie in the door and just as the driver walked over to her side, she snatched the keys from his hand and locked the door.

Ariel ran up to the Doctor and tried to help him pull his tie out of the car.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ariel snapped.

"Are you out of your mind?" the Doctor asked, staring at her with wide eyes as Ariel tried to rip the tie out of the car door.

"Who are you?" Amy asked, glaring at the pair of them and holding up the car keys as though they were a weapon.

"You know who I am," the Doctor nodded.

"No, really," Amy shook her head, clenching her jaw as she stared at the couple. "Who are you? Both of you?"

"Right when I thought she was taking this really well," Ariel sighed.

"Look at the sky," the Doctor said, nodding up to the blackened sun. "End of the world, twenty minutes."

"Well, better talk quickly, then," Amy shrugged.

The driver of the car frowned at Amy and the couple. "Amy, I am going to need my car back," the man said.

Ariel rolled her eyes. Did this woman just know everybody in Leadworth?

"Yes, in a bit," Amy sighed and shook her head. "Now go and have coffee."

The man gasped softly as though he were just remembering that was something he had wanted to do. "Right, yes," the man nodded before walking off to do just as Amy had instructed.

"Wait," Ariel gasped. She reached into the pocket of her jumper and pulled out the apple with the face she had carved into it. She grinned and the Doctor beamed up at her.

"Catch," the Doctor said as Ariel tossed the apple to Amy.

Amy caught the apple and stared down at it with wide eyes. It was the same apple. The exact same one Ariel had tried to give her when she was a kid. And it was still fresh. But that was impossible.

"That should be more than enough proof," Ariel nodded.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Ariel. We're time travellers. Everything we told you twelve years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let us go right now, everything you've ever known is over," the Doctor said and Amy just glanced between the apple and the Doctor, willing herself to believe it was real but there was still a large part of her that doubted them.

"I don't believe you," Amy said, shaking her head, hating herself for the action. She wanted to believe that there was more to the universe, that her childhood imaginary friends could be real but she just couldn't.

"That's okay," Ariel nodded.

"Just twenty minutes," the Doctor shrugged. "Just believe us for twenty minutes," he requested. "Look at it. Fresh as the day you gave it to Ariel. And you know it's the same one. Amy, believe for twenty minutes," he begged.

Ariel and the Doctor stared at her with wide eyes and Amy looked down at the apple in her hands clenching it tightly and taking a deep breath before sighing softly and unlocking the car door.

"What do we do?" Amy asked.

"Stop that nurse," the Doctor smirked. He grabbed Ariel's hand and the three of them ran toward a nurse, not taking pictures of the sun like everyone else but, with his back turned, taking pictures of something else.

"Hi!" Ariel exclaimed as she and the Doctor swung around the man and stood in front of him each raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" the Doctor wondered.

Amy ran up to his side and the nurse's eyes widened when he spotted her. "Amy," he sighed.

"Hi!" Amy exclaimed, feigning a grin before the Doctor and Ariel. "Oh, this is Rory, he's a friend," she sighed.

"Boyfriend," Rory corrected with a shrug.

"Kind of boyfriend," Amy shook her head.

The Doctor and Ariel shared an uncomfortable glance. It was so odd for Ariel to see ordinary couples and realize that if she hadn't met the Doctor, she would've grown into another ordinary relationship. A relationship where you don't know if you should tell the other person something because they might laugh or otherwise judge you. A relationship where after awhile you get to a point where you start questioning whether or not you made the right decision. A relationship where you question whether or not the other loves you with every beat of their heart. A relationship where you question yourself.

Ariel always told the Doctor everything. After she shared her darkest secrets with him, it came easily. It was as though she was telling herself every little thing she told the Doctor. She told him about her dreams, her strange thoughts throughout the day, her pet peeves. Everything. And he did the same for her.

She hated using the word perfect to describe something that clearly had flaws, but she felt like her relationship with the Doctor was perfect.

"Amy," Rory sighed.

"Man and dog, why?" the Doctor repeated, narrowing his eyes at Rory.

"It's them, though," Rory gasped, staring at the couple with wide eyes. "The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor and Ariel. Ariel the Mermaid," he frowned.

"Am I going to be called that all day?" Ariel groaned.

"They came back," Amy nodded.

"But they were a story," Rory reasoned with a small shrug. "A game."

"Yeah, less talking, more to the point," Ariel requested, waving her hands to signal her impatience.

"Man and dog," the Doctor said. "Why? Tell us now," he insisted.

"Sorry," Rory sighed, shaking his head. He noticed he had gotten off track when right from the start the Doctor had only one question. Ariel smiled. She liked Rory, he didn't seem to be like some of the idiots they had met in their travels. Not to mention the passengers on the planet Midnight. That was a nightmare she would never forget. "Because he can't be there," Rory shrugged. "Because he's-."

"In a hospital, in a coma," the Doctor and Rory said in unison.

"Okay, that's freaky," Ariel remarked with a small frown.

"Yeah," Rory sighed, glancing at the Doctor with wide eyes.

Ariel rolled her eyes and turned away. She wasn't exactly talking about the Doctor speaking at the same time as him. He had done that to her thousands of times.

"So, he's using a coma patient to get a body?" Ariel frowned at the Doctor.

"Multiform, you see?" the Doctor nodded. He wrapped an arm around Ariel and pointed to the man and the dog at the very edge of the field watching them "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a live feed. A psychic link with a living but dormant mind. Prisoner Zero," he sighed as the man barked at them.

"What?" Rory frowned. "There's a Prisoner Zero too?"

"Yes," Amy sighed.

"Do try and keep up Rory, we're on a bit of a time crunch here," Ariel said.

The Doctor chuckled and spun around, just in time to spot and eyeball spaceship scanning the planet. He tapped Ariel's wrist and she spun around only to jump back at the sight of it.

"Y'know I have seen some pretty strange things traveling with you but an eyeball spaceship is by far one of the strangest," Ariel remarked with a small frown.

"Weirder than the living fat?" the Doctor asked.

"Okay, they're about matched," Ariel shrugged and the Doctor chuckled.

"See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology," the Doctor said, pointing up at the ship. "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver," he smirked, pulling out his screwdriver.

"And then they can catch Prisoner Zero," Ariel grinned, nodding along with him.

"Exactly," the Doctor smiled.

The Doctor made all the streetlights explode, the car alarms go off and a poor woman's mobility scooter zoom off down the road.

The Doctor turned to Prisoner Zero who was just standing there snarling at them.

"I think someone's going to notice, don't you?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

The Doctor blew up a red telephone box and the screwdriver blew up alongside it.

"No!" Ariel cried as the screwdriver fell out of his hands.

The Doctor looked down at the screwdriver like his puppy had just died.

"No, no! No, don't do that!" the Doctor yelled, hopping down and clutching the screwdriver in his hands, trying frantically to turn it on again but it would not oblige.

"Look, it's going," Rory said, pointing at the eyeball spaceship that was turning around and away from them.

The Doctor jumped up and ran to the edge of the field, watching as the ship left.

"No, come back!" the Doctor cried. "He's here! Come back! He's here. Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is-."

Ariel watched as Prisoner Zero transformed his and the dog's bodies into some sort of liquid and fell down the drain cover.

"Doctor!" Ariel exclaimed, running up to the drain cover and frowning as she peered down into it. "Where could you have gone?" She hummed, frowning at the empty drain.

"What?" the Doctor asked. "What is it?" He said, running up to Ariel and wrapping an arm around her as Rory and Amy ran up behind him.

"The drain," Amy said, nodding to Ariel. She had seen it too. "It just sort of melted and went down the drain."

"Well, of course it did," the Doctor scoffed.

"What do we do now?" Amy asked with a small shrug.

"It's hiding in human form," the Doctor sighed. "We need to drive it into the open. No Tardis, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on, think. Think!" He cried, hitting his head roughly and wincing.

Ariel pulled his hands away and held them in hers. "If Prisoner Zero uses coma patients then maybe it's heading to the hospital to get a new source," she suggested with a small shrug. "It knows that we've seen this one and are trying to send it back to it's guards."

"Oh, brilliant, you are!" the Doctor exclaimed. He kissed her on her forehead and squeezed her hand tightly. "But first we need to know if it had other forms. We need to figure out what faces it has already used," he sighed.

"So, hold on, that thing, that hid in my house for twelve years?" Amy prompted with a raised eyebrow, pointing down at the drain cover.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Ariel, silently asking if he should explain. All too often he was impolite without knowing and it was nice to have Ariel by his side to ensure that he wasn't about to be rude and scare Amy even further. She simply nodded. "Multiforms can live for millennia," the Doctor said. "Twelve years is a pit-stop," he shrugged.

"So how come you two show up again on the same day that lot do?" Amy wondered. "The same minute!" She snapped.

Ariel winced. That was a very unfortunate coincidence. Luckily, the Doctor had an explanation for it and to her relief, they weren't the ones to blame.

"They're looking for him, but they followed us," the Doctor said. "They saw us through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because we are," he shrugged.

"What's he on about?" Rory sighed.

"Nurse boy, give me your phone," the Doctor snapped, clicking his fingers at Rory.

Ariel smiled politely at Rory and placed her hand on the Doctor's shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at him and he frowned.

"What?" the Doctor said, glancing at her, then Amy and Rory. "That wasn't being rude we're on a time crunch," he insisted and Ariel just rolled her eyes.

"How can they be real?" Rory wondered, glancing back at Amy. "They were never real."

"Phone. Now. Give me," the Doctor snapped and Rory just ignored him, carrying on talking to Amy as though they weren't there.

"They were just a game. We were kids," Rory shrugged. "You dressed up like her and you made me dress up as him," he remembered and Amy turned bright red, her face mirroring the same shade as her hair as she glanced back at the couple.

"Oh, just shut up," Ariel moaned. She snatched his phone out of his hand and tossed it to the Doctor.

The Doctor grinned and kissed her head before flicking through the images. Each was of a different person standing and appearing nonchalant but they were all coma patients somewhere in another hospital.

"These photos, they're are all coma patients?" the Doctor clarified, glancing up at Rory momentarily.

"Yeah," Rory nodded.

"Nope. Wrong," Ariel shook her head.

"They're all the multiform," the Doctor nodded. "Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero," he hummed.

"He had a dog, though," Amy remembered. "There's a dog in a coma?" She frowned.

"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog," the Doctor sighed with a small shrug. "Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good-looking one."

"Doctor," Ariel warned.

"Thanks," Rory sighed, rolling his eyes at the Doctor.

"Jeff," Amy nodded.

Rory seemed even more surprised that his girlfriend had actually answered. He glanced up at Amy with wide eyes.

"Oh, thanks," Rory moaned.

"He had a laptop in his bag. A laptop. Big bag, big laptop. I need Jeff's laptop," the Doctor said.

"But what about Prisoner Zero?" Ariel asked. "He's probably headed to that hospital right now," she reminded him.

The Doctor sighed softly, silently frustrated he couldn't be in two places at once. He glanced up at Rory and Amy. "You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done," he instructed.

Amy nodded and turned to Rory. "Your car," she said. "Come on."

"But how can they be here?" Rory wondered, staring back at the couple as Amy grabbed his hand and dragged him to the car park. "How can the Doctor and Ariel be here?" He asked desperately.

Ariel grinned at the retreating form of Amy Pond. "She's starting to believe," she smiled.

"I know," the Doctor hummed with a large grin painted across his face.

"She's not so bad," Ariel shrugged. "It'll be weird traveling with someone I knew as a kid, though."

"Ah, well you didn't know her too long. It'd be stranger if it was Ross," the Doctor reminded her.

"Ah, yeah," Ariel nodded. "That would be weird."

The Doctor smiled and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he said. Ariel grinned and they ran through the field, back to Jeff's house.


	4. The Atraxi and The Moon

The Doctor and Ariel burst into Jeff's room while he was using his laptop and the Doctor grinned at the sight of it. "Hello. Laptop. Give me," he said, gesturing to Jeff like a greedy child.

Jeff fell back on his bed, clutching the screen of the laptop to his chest and staring at the couple with wide eyes as he shook his head. "No, no, no, no, wait," he begged.

Ariel snorted. She liked how Jeff didn't just tell them off for barging into his room and demanding his laptop. Instead, all he wanted to do was close out of his browser.

"It's fine," the Doctor assured him with a shrug. "Give it here," he said, beginning a tug of war with Jeff for the laptop.

"Doctor, maybe we should-," Ariel began, trying to tell him that he should probably find a more polite way of getting the laptop. However, her words died on her tongue as the Doctor ripped the laptop from Jeff's arms. "Never mind," she sighed.

"Hang on!" Jeff cried, scrambling forward as the Doctor sat on the edge of Jeff's bed and his eyes grew ten sizes as he saw what was on the screen.

"Blimey," the Doctor winced. "Get a girlfriend, Jeff," he said, closing out of Jeff's browser and opening a new one.

Ariel stepped back, momentarily disgusted as she glanced over at Jeff. "Ew," Ariel moaned.

However, Jeff seemed to be doing a onceover on Ariel, feeling quite the opposite as he smirked at her.

"Oh, when he said get a girlfriend he didn't mean me!" Ariel snapped.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he looked up, immediately turning to Jeff and pushing him backwards with a single finger to his forehead. "Hands off, mate. Don't pick the first attractive girl you see," he reprimanded. "She's mine."

Jeff sighed and rolled his eyes while Ariel blushed and squirmed giddily at the fact that the Doctor had just called her _his_.

Before they could get another word in, Jeff's grandmother Mrs Angelo walked in and the Doctor beamed at her.

"Gran," Jeff sighed as the woman entered the room.

Ariel took a seat beside the Doctor and peered over his shoulder at the laptop as he typed furiously.

"What are you doing?" Mrs Angelo asked.

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call," the Doctor smirked. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me. Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore," he listed.

"I like Patrick Moore," Mrs Angelo grinned.

"I bet he'd like you," Ariel giggled.

"I'll get you his number," the Doctor nodded. "But watch him, he's a devil," he warned with a small smirk.

"You can't just hack in on a call like that," Jeff frowned, glancing at the screen and at the Doctor.

"Can't I?" the Doctor grinned. He pressed enter and six different faces popped up on the screen, all looking equally confused as they stared at the Doctor.

The Doctor immediately pulled out his psychic paper and pressed it against the webcam.

"Who are you?" Patrick Moore asked.

"This is a secure call, what are you doing here?" Another man wondered.

"Hello," the Doctor waved with a small smile. "Yeah, I know you should switch me off, but before you do, watch this," he said. "Fermat's Theorem, the proof. And I mean the real one. Never been seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault. I slept in," the Doctor shrugged. "Ariel over here wasn't there to wake me up."

"Oh, blame it on me," Ariel moaned. "I was helping Newton with the reflecting telescope," she reminded him. "I didn't think he'd get it done if I'm honest. He kept experimenting and even told me he'd know what he was looking for when he found it. I thought that was rubbish, but what d'ya know?" She shrugged. "He got it done."

"Have they gone mad," Patrick Moore gasped.

"Well, maybe me but certainly not her," the Doctor shook his head and Ariel grinned. "Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie. Why electrons have mass. And a personal favourite of mine, faster than light travel with two diagrams and a joke. Look at your screens. Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention," the Doctor instructed. He grabbed Rory's phone from Ariel and began typing rapidly. Ariel just stared at the screen with wide eyes, as dumbfounded as the men watching them.

"But, sir, what are you doing?" The man from NASA asked.

"I'm writing a computer virus," the Doctor said. "Very clever, super fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. And why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind, you'll find out. Okay, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish, whatever you've got. Any questions?" the Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Who is your lady friend?" Patrick Moore smirked, giving Ariel a onceover.

"Sorry, didn't you call me mad two seconds ago?" Ariel frowned.

Patrick's eyes widened and he backed away from the screen while the Doctor held back laughter and grinned at her.

"What does this virus do?" One of the men asked.

"It's a reset command, that's all," the Doctor shrugged. "It resets counters. It gets in the wifi and resets every counter it can find. Clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time. But yeah, I could be lying, why should you trust me? I'll let our best man explain," he smiled.

Ariel glanced back at Jeff and raised an expectant eyebrow and Jeff just shrugged, unsure of who the Doctor was talking about.

"Erm, that's you," Ariel murmured.

"Jeff, you're our best man," the Doctor whispered with a nod.

"You what?" Jeff said with wide eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with what was being asked of him.

"Listen to me," the Doctor sighed. "In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is going to be offering you any job you want. But first, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff, right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world," he grinned.

"Why me?" Jeff wondered, glancing hopelessly at Ariel and the Doctor.

"It's your bedroom," the Doctor shrugged.

"And your laptop," Ariel added with a nod.

"Now, go, go, go!" the Doctor exclaimed. He grabbed Ariel's hand and raced out the door while Jeff took a deep breath and pulled the laptop onto his lap.

The Doctor tugged Ariel back inside as she giggled and stared at Jeff with wide eyes.

"Oh, and delete your internet history," the Doctor nodded and Ariel laughed as the Doctor pulled her out into the corridor once again and kissed her happily on the forehead.

"We need a lift," Ariel sighed.

"I've got just the thing," the Doctor smiled at a fire engine and glancing down at her.

"I love traveling with you," Ariel giggled. She squealed delightfully as the Doctor pulled her across the street and they both got inside.

The Doctor sat in the driver's seat and began speeding toward the hospital and Ariel turned on the sirens, grinning as she opened the window and listened to them wailing.

"I've always wanted to do that," Ariel laughed. "Hold on have we technically stolen this?" Ariel frowned as she realized. She didn't consider it at first seeing as nobody was by the fire engine and with the Doctor she was used to just taking things they needed with little to no explanation, but she didn't really see how they could ever give it back.

"I prefer commandeered," the Doctor shrugged.

"So we stole it?" Ariel assumed.

"A bit, yeah," the Doctor conceded with a sigh.

"How to you steal something a bit?" Ariel giggled.

"I don't know," the Doctor sighed. Then his eyes widened and he straightened in his seat. "Oh, wait, I do know," he nodded. "I know what it's like. It's like when someone takes a bit out of your food without asking but leaves the rest of it to you. They didn't steal the whole thing," the Doctor shrugged. "They only stole a bit of it."

"Okay, but we've stolen the whole fire engine," Ariel reminded him with a nod, gesturing to the engine as though he needed clarification.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a poor analogy now that I think about it," the Doctor hummed.

Ariel giggled and shook her head. "You're an idiot," she chuckled. "But you're an adorable idiot," she grinned. She gave the Doctor a quick hug and pressed a kiss to his head as Rory's phone rang.

"Oh, that's rubbish timing," the Doctor remarked. "Who is it?"

"It's Amy," Ariel said. "Hold on." Ariel answered the phone and immediately put Amy on speaker. "Amy?" Ariel prompted.

"Ariel? Doctor?" Amy said. "We're at the hospital, but we can't get through."

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look, both thinking the same thing but neither one saying it aloud.

"Oh, come on," Ariel moaned.

"Look in the mirror," the Doctor laughed.

"If I had that outfit I would so abuse it more than she's done," Ariel sighed.

"No, you wouldn't," the Doctor chuckled. "You'd be too scared of getting arrested because of all the stuff you've seen about prison on telly."

"Well, it looks really scary!" Ariel exclaimed. "Much scarier than that prison on Courdeen where the Princess sentenced me to death by hanging."

"Oh, that was a lot of fun," the Doctor chuckled.

"Donna said she thought my face was going to get eaten off by that prisoner that told us he'd been in there for thirteen years," Ariel giggled.

"I thought she said he'd been in there for thirty," the Doctor frowned.

"However long, his breath smelled like he'd been living off of rats and spiders," Ariel winced. "I honestly think he was still in there because they just forgot about him or didn't wanna see him again."

"Oh, that's mean!" the Doctor laughed.

"It's true!" Ariel cried. "You would've been scared to death by him if you hadn't been negotiating with the fat King."

"Yes, well if I hadn't the pair of you wouldn't have escaped now would you?" the Doctor asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, but you cut it close yet again," Ariel sighed. "They were putting the ropes round our necks when they announced the death sentence had been lifted."

"What were you sentenced for again?" the Doctor frowned.

"The Princess had a crush on you and was jealous of me so when Donna tried to defend me, she sentenced her too," Ariel nodded.

"And where was I?" the Doctor wondered.

"Eating scones with the Prime Minister who looked a bit like a squid," Ariel giggled.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor grinned. "I didn't know Princess Missandei was jealous," he frowned.

"It hardly matters," Ariel shrugged. "If she were from Earth she'd be about thirteen. No thirteen year old should be giving out death sentences."

"Well, you're not wrong there," the Doctor mumbled.

All too soon, the voice of Amy Pond snapped them back to reality.

"Are you on your way?" Amy asked. "You're going to need a car."

Ariel snorted. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she assured her, grinning at the Doctor.

"I've commandeered a vehicle," the Doctor nodded.

"Oh, stop saying commandeered, we stole it," Ariel giggled.

"Commandeered!" the Doctor corrected.

"Do you feel better saying you didn't steal it even though you technically stole the Tardis?" Ariel wondered. "So, it's not like this is your first time stealing," she shrugged.

"Yes," the Doctor said.

Ariel smiled and sighed softly, shaking her head at the Doctor. "Alright, we commandeered it," she conceded.

The Doctor grinned. "Thank you."

Amy called the phone once again and Ariel answered immediately, putting it on speaker.

"Are you in?" the Doctor asked.

"Yep," Amy nodded. "But so's Prisoner Zero."

Ariel sucked in a sharp breath and she and the Doctor shared a look.

"You need to get out of there," the Doctor breathed.

"Amy, just leg it. We'll be there in a few. Don't worry," Ariel assured her.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp scream from the other end of the line.

"Oh, my God!" Rory cried.

"What is it?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"Amy?" the Doctor tried. "Amy, what's happening?" He asked desperately.

All they heard were loud footsteps as though she and Rory were running and Ariel and the Doctor shared a wide eyed look, both feeling the fear twist in the pits of their stomachs but unwilling to verbalize it.

"Amy, come on!" Ariel cried.

"Amy, talk to us!" the Doctor snapped.

"We're in the coma ward, but it's here," Amy gasped. "It's getting in," she said.

The Doctor sucked in a sharp breath and they rounded the corner into the car park.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Ariel asked.

"We don't have another choice," the Doctor sighed. "Which window are you?" He asked Amy.

"I'm sorry?" Amy prompted with a frown.

"Which window?" the Doctor repeated.

There was a beat as Amy took a moment to peer outside and figure out where she was so she could tell them. "First floor, on the left, fourth from the end," she said.

"She is brilliant," Ariel hummed.

The Doctor smirked. "What do you think? Should she come?" the Doctor asked.

Ariel didn't want to admit it, but a tiny part of her was disappointed that he wanted to find another companion. She understood that he wanted other people to travel with, and that was just part of who he was, but she had enjoyed traveling with him alone. It was nice having their own small routine and going to whatever place they wanted whenever they wanted. She liked having Donna around, but when she had an easy relationship with the Doctor with nobody else around to interfere, it was much more fun.

She almost wanted to say no, just so she could hang onto that life with him a little longer, but glancing into his hopeful eyes, there was no way she could deny him of another friend. Sure, she wanted to travel alone with the Doctor but she couldn't force him into that life and make him miserable because of that. She loved him way too much to ever do that to him.

Besides, she knew Amy would be brilliant traveling with them.

Ariel took a deep breath and smiled. "Yeah," Ariel nodded. "She should come."

The Doctor grinned and drove the fire engine up to the hospital. "Tell Amy to duck," he said.

Ariel's eyes widened and she rapidly texted Duck! to Amy as the Doctor grabbed her hand and bolted to the ladder. He extended the ladder so it went through the window and together they climbed up it and through the window. The Doctor turned to Ariel and helped her through, lifting her off the ladder and placing her down by his side.

Across from Amy and Rory, a woman and her two daughters on either side of her were sneering at them. Prisoner Zero had taken a new form.

"Right!" the Doctor exclaimed with a clap of his hands. "Hello. Are we late?" He asked.

Ariel glanced at the large clock on the wall and shook her head. There was still three minutes left for them. "No, we've got time," Ariel said.

"Three minutes to go," the Doctor confirmed with a nod. "So still time," he concluded.

"Time for what, Time Lord?" Prisoner Zero spat as though it were an insult.

"Oh, don't play clever," Ariel snapped, shaking her head at Prisoner Zero.

"Take the disguise off," the Doctor instructed. "They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies."

"The Atraxi will kill me this time," Prisoner Zero scoffed. "If I am to die, let there be fire."

"Really going with the overdramatic end, are you?" Ariel sighed and Prisoner Zero granted her nothing more than an irritated eye roll.

"Okay," the Doctor muttered. "You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave," he persisted.

"I did not open the crack," Prisoner Zero said, shaking her head.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a frown. If Prisoner Zero didn't open the crack, then who did?

"Somebody did," the Doctor nodded.

"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from?" Prisoner Zero sighed. "You don't, do you?" She smirked when she saw he was completely lost, like Christmas had just come early for her. "The Doctor in the Tardis doesn't know. Doesn't know. Doesn't know!" She taunted in a little girl's voice like the kind notorious for bullying people on school play yards.

"Shut it!" Ariel snapped. She hated listening to people insult the Doctor. Rather than thinking things through, she followed her basic instinct. She started to dive towards Prisoner Zero and the Doctor simply grabbed her wrist and shook his head. "But she-," Ariel tried and he shook his head once again. Ariel gave in with an annoyed sigh and Prisoner Zero laughed at them.

"Look at you two," Prisoner Zero sighed. "Can't even decide what to do with me," she smirked. "And yet when it comes down to it, the precious Doctor would go so far to save her life," she smiled although it appeared much more like a grimace.

"What are you talking about?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"Oh, didn't you ever guess it?" Prisoner Zero asked. "The girl fated to destroy time. You didn't think a little human like you could do that all on her own did you?"

"Don't listen to her," the Doctor mumbled. "She's just trying to get inside your head."

"Yeah, Mickey said that too," Ariel nodded. "But what if it's true, Doctor? What if it's all true? What is it? What's going to happen?"

"The universe is cracked," Prisoner Zero announced. "The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall," she sighed.

The Doctor took a deep breath and glanced at the clock, all too happy to finally be able to change the subject. "And we're off!" the Doctor exclaimed and Ariel sighed softly before pulling on a grin for the man she loved. "Look at that. Look at that!" He laughed.

The clock said 0:00, and it wasn't just that one. Across the world. Everything was resetting back to zero just as they had hoped.

"Yeah, I know, just a clock," the Doctor sighed. "Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, our team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is Zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute? The source, by the way, is right here," he smirked, holding up Rory's phone with pride.

Just then, outside the window Ariel and the Doctor had entered from, a bright light shined into the coma ward.

"Oh!" the Doctor laughed. "And I think they just found us!" He exclaimed.

Ariel giggled and grabbed the Doctor's hand, spinning around in glee as Prisoner Zero simply rolled her eyes.

"The Atraxi are limited," Prisoner Zero sighed. "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me," she shook her head.

"Yeah, but this is the good bit," the Doctor nodded. "I mean, this is my favourite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Ooo, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no Tardis, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?" He exclaimed, stretching his arms out and glancing around with a smirk.

Ariel just winced and sighed softly at him while shaking her head.

"Oh, I'm never saying that again," the Doctor moaned. "Fine," he said, seeming a bit sore after the failed catchphrase.

It wasn't that it was awful, it was just that Ariel didn't want to hear a thousand year old alien saying that to literally anybody.

"Then I shall take a new form," Prisoner Zero shrugged as though it were no big deal.

"Oh, stop it," the Doctor scoffed. "You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

"Oh, Doctor," Prisoner Zero sighed. "You underestimate me. I've had years to develop new tricks," she smirked.

All of a sudden, both Amy and Ariel collapsed and all at once both of the Doctor's hearts stopped.

The Doctor fell to his knees and cupped Ariel's cheek, completely disregarding Amy for the moment to the displeasure of Rory.

"No, no, Ariel look at me," the Doctor begged. "Ariel, don't close your eyes! Ariel! Amy?" the Doctor prompted, glancing back at the ginger. "You've got to hold on. Amy? Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please," he pleaded, desperate not to lose both of them on that day.

All of a sudden, Prisoner Zero transformed and she morphed into a tall girl holding onto the hand of a young ginger with a taunting smile.

"Doctor?" Rory breathed and nodded to the two women standing before them. The Doctor's eyes widened as he spotted the woman he loved, imitated by some creature. He could stand a lot, but not watching as they took her form away, that was the one thing he wouldn't stand.

"Poor Ariel Parsons," the Prisoner Zero duplicate of her sighed. "Always relying on her Doctor to save the day when all he's ever done is let her down. Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been," the duplicate Ariel spat and the Doctor winced as he watched those words come from Ariel's lips. "The girls dream of such horrors with you away. Monsters lurking in dark, hidden rooms without their Raggedy Doctor to save the day."

"That's not Prisoner Zero," the Doctor mumbled, his eyes growing large. "That's Ariel." She could hear him. She was doing just as he had done on Midnight so long ago. She was fighting back against the alien, trying to give him a message and help him save the day.

"What?" Rory frowned. "How do you know?"

"Because I know Ariel," the Doctor smiled, glancing down at the brunette laying on the ground. "I know what she dreams about and I know not once has she ever dreamed about monsters or hidden rooms," he beamed. "She's trying to remind me," he said. "Remind me what Amy saw," he nodded. "Oh, you are brilliant, you are!" The Doctor exclaimed. He pressed a kiss to Ariel's forehead and ran over to Amy.

"No, no, no, no!" Prisoner Zero cried, fighting back against Ariel and fighting back against what Ariel was trying to do.

"Amy, don't just hear me, listen," the Doctor insisted, lifting Amy's head up so he could talk to her rapidly. He didn't know how long Ariel had control, but he needed to make sure she was able to pass the link onto Amy. "Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see. Remember you went inside. I tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy, dream about what you saw," he insisted.

"No!" The duplicate of Ariel shrieked and the bodies began shaking as she transformed once again, into the creature Amy had seen in that room.

"Well done, Prisoner Zero. A perfect impersonation of yourself," the Doctor smirked at the snake like creature, glaring at him.

"Prisoner Zero is located," the Atraxi announced through the window. "Prisoner Zero is restrained."

"Silence, Doctor," Prisoner Zero hissed as the bright light shined through the window. "Silence will fall."

And with that warning, Prisoner Zero was restrained once again and disappeared with a rush of wind.

"The sun," Rory breathed as the bright light of the sun shined back down on the Earth once again. "It's back to normal, right? That's, that's good, yeah? That means it's over."

Before the Doctor could refute that assumption, Amy woke up with a cough and Rory jumped over to her, helping her get her bearings once again.

"Amy," Rory breathed. "Are you okay? Are you with us?" He asked desperately, watching Amy with wide worried eyes.

The Doctor barely paid attention or acknowledged that Amy was awake. He just stood firm with a clenched jaw watching as Ariel still laid unconscious on the ground.

"What happened?" Amy asked with a curious frown, glancing at Rory and the Doctor.

"He did it," Rory nodded, staring at the Doctor, still a bit angry that the man hadn't paid attention to Amy when she was unconscious. He seemed to only notice the ginger as an afterthought rather than a genuine concern. "The Doctor did it," he said.

Just then, Ariel woke up, sitting upright with a sharp gasp.

She started coughing loudly and the Doctor grinned and knelt before her, brushing her hair out of her stormy grey eyes as he smiled at her. "No, I didn't," the Doctor said, shaking his head, beaming at the person who had saved them all.

Ariel had saved them. He had just helped her along a bit.

"So, I take it we won?" Ariel prompted with a small smirk.

The Doctor laughed and wrapped her in a hug, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You were brilliant," he said.

Ariel beamed at him and wrapped him in another hug. "I'm glad you got the message," she nodded.

"Well, it's not over yet," the Doctor sighed.

Ariel frowned and glanced at the window where the Atraxi had been. "Are they still here?" She asked.

"Yep," the Doctor muttered, looking as annoyed as Ariel felt. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand to help her off the ground.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Tracking the signal back," the Doctor murmured. "Sorry in advance," he said.

"About what?" Rory asked.

"The bill," the Doctor sighed as he pressed the phone to his ear. Ariel snickered. He was really phoning the Atraxi to stop them from burning the planet. That man would never cease to amaze her.

"Oi, I didn't say you could go!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, now," he snapped. He tossed the phone back to Rory and sighed. "Okay, now I've done it," he said as he grabbed Ariel's hand and marched out of the room.

"Did he just bring them back?" Rory asked with wide eyes, glancing at the retreating couple and Amy. "Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?"

Amy scrambled up and ran after the pair and Rory soon followed as they marched through the hospital corridor on their way to the roof.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked.

"The roof," the Doctor replied and glanced to his right. His eyes widened when he spotted the doctor's locker room. "No, hang on," he said and dragged Ariel into the room with him. Amy and Rory ran after them in confusion.

The Doctor started shuffling through all the miscellaneous clothes and tossed some over his shoulder, landing in Ariel's arms.

"What's in here?" Amy wondered.

"Apparently a costume change," Ariel sighed, frowning at the clothes in her arms.

"I'm saving the world - I need a decent shirt," the Doctor shrugged. "To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show."

"Now's when he picks the outfit this face won't take off for who knows how long," Ariel giggled. "I had to ask him to wear a different tie once just so he could change something," she said.

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth," Rory reminded him as though he didn't already realize that. "Actual aliens, deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off. Amy, he's taking his clothes off," he sighed.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor shrugged as he peeled off his shirt.

"Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know," Rory said awkwardly before sighing softly and turning around. He glanced at Ariel and Amy, still staring at the Doctor and smirking. "Are you two not going to turn your backs?" He asked.

The two women shared a grin and shook their heads. "Nope," they said in unison.

Rory rolled his eyes and turned away as the Doctor peeled off his trousers. This was the first time Ariel was able to see all of the Doctor's new body. She wasn't going to pass it up just because it was in public.

Ariel watched with a large grin as the Doctor tried on several shirts and tossed them to the side or to her.

"Ariel can you grab that jacket?" the Doctor asked, pointing to a brown suede jacket hanging precariously over a locker door. "I may want it later," he hummed.

"Sure," Ariel shrugged. She snatched the jacket off the locker door and he turned with a sigh.

The Doctor had several ties draped around his neck and a new shirt as well as suspenders dangling off his trousers. He took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm ready."

Ariel grinned and held out the hand not holding all his clothes to him. He smiled and grabbed it, running out the door without another word. Amy watched them with wide eyes, a bit overwhelmed at how quickly they had gotten over him changing in public.

She sighed softly and shook her head before running after them.

"Hold on, are we not going to talk about what just happened here?!" Rory exclaimed, running after Amy and the others.

The Doctor and Ariel marched up to the roof and the Doctor slammed the door open while the Atraxi waited patiently for them, hovering just slightly over the building.

"So this was a good idea, was it?" Amy prompted, frowning at the large eyeball over the hospital. "They were leaving."

"Leaving is good," the Doctor nodded. "Never coming back is better. Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now," he smiled. He tossed a tie he didn't like over his shoulder casually and Ariel draped it around her neck, grinning at him.

The eyeball flew out of its ship and hovered mere inches away from the Doctor.

The Atraxi scanned the Doctor with a blue light and the Doctor just stared up at them while trying out different ties with the shirt he wore.

"You are not of this world," the Atraxi observed.

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it," the Doctor replied with a soft sigh as he tossed another tie over his shoulder.

The Doctor compared two ties on top of his shirt and frowned. "Oh, hmm, I don't know. What do you think?" He asked. When the Atraxi didn't respond, he spun around and held up two ties to Ariel, raising an eyebrow.

"Neither," Ariel frowned. "Go with the red one, it matches the suspenders," she nodded.

"Oh, good call," the Doctor hummed. He tossed the two ties to her and shuffled through all the others he had draped around his neck.

"Is this world important?" The Atraxi asked.

"Important?" Ariel scoffed. "What sort of a question is that?" She asked.

"What's that mean, important?" the Doctor wondered. "Six billion people live here. Is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?" He asked, nodding the Atraxi on.

The Atraxi moved back and produced a blue hologram of the world and the events within between them. When it finished the scan, the hologram closed. "No," the Atraxi said.

"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow as he tossed another tie over his shoulder.

The Atraxi produced another quick hologram, scanning various populations of people before it closed once again. "No," the Atraxi replied.

"Okay," the Doctor sighed. "One more. Just one," he nodded. "Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many."

The Atraxi produced a hologram of the various aliens the Doctor had defeated. The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sycorax. You name it.

"And what you've got to ask is, what happened to them?" the Doctor wondered.

The hologram changed to show a run through of all the previous Doctors. All his other faces.

The Doctor stepped back and grabbed the suede jacket from Ariel, pulling it on and smirking as the hologram got through his ninth and tenth faces.

When the hologram finally froze on his tenth face, he stepped through it and smiled at the Atraxi. "Hello," the Doctor said. "I'm the Doctor. Basically," he sighed. "Run."

The eyeball swerved back into its ship and flew away very fast, leaving the Earth without a second of hesitation.

All of a sudden, the Doctor doubled back and Ariel ran up to him, peering over his shoulder as he pulled out a glowing Tardis key. Ariel and the Doctor shared a grin and he grabbed her hand, running to the door to the hospital without a second thought.

They ran all the way back to the Tardis, overwhelmed with excitement as they got to the back of the garden and spotted the Tardis sitting there with an orangey glow coming from the windows.

Ariel and the Doctor smiled at each other and Ariel squeezed his hand, antsy with excitement.

"Okay, what have you got for me this time?" the Doctor sighed.

The Doctor stepped up to the door and opened it cautiously, anxious of what may be awaiting him on the other side.

When the door swung open, Ariel's jaw dropped at the sight. She grinned at the beautiful yellow and orange lights and marvelled at how the Tardis looked even more gorgeous than when she had first seen it a year ago.

"Oh, brilliant," Ariel breathed.

"Look at you," the Doctor grinned. "Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you."

The Doctor glanced down at Ariel and raised an eyebrow. She just smiled and nodded, taking his hand and stepping into the Tardis with him.

"So, where should we go?!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Brand new Tardis, all of time and space! What'll it be?!"

"Have we ever been to the moon before?" Ariel wondered, running up to the console and leaning on it as she always did, standing by the Doctor's side.

"The moon it is," the Doctor beamed. "But what do you say we make this a tiny bit more interesting, eh? What would you say to unofficially being the first human to ever step foot on the moon?" He prompted.

Ariel's eyes widened. "Seriously?" She breathed.

"Why not?" the Doctor smiled. He set in the coordinates and held out his hand to Ariel.

Ariel giggled delightfully and grabbed it as he pulled the lever and sent them flying.

* * *

Ariel ran through the Tardis wildly, trying to find a spacesuit. "Have you seen the swimming pool?" She called. "It wasn't in the library and it still wasn't in the room made for it!" She cried as she stepped into the spacesuit.

"Was it in your room?" the Doctor frowned.

"No, I already checked," Ariel shook her head. "It wasn't in the garden or your room either."

"Maybe, she just misplaced it," the Doctor said, placing his hand delicately on the console.

"Yeah, the question is where," Ariel sighed as she pulled on the helmet. She sighed softly and grinned at the Doctor. "What do you think?"

"I think you look brilliant," the Doctor smiled. "Come on, we should be here a year before Neil Armstrong. You might want to meet the species that inhabit the moon though," he shrugged as he spun around the console.

Ariel froze, her eyes widening as she darted after the Doctor. "Wait, what?!" She exclaimed.

"We're here!" the Doctor cried with a grin. He ran up to the door and swung it open to reveal the barren moon before them.

Ariel stepped up to the doorway and stared at it with wide eyes. "All those pictures in class," Ariel mumbled. "I never thought it would be this beautiful," she smiled.

The Doctor grinned down at her and pulled out a bright orange spacesuit. "What do you think?" He asked, holding it up with an excited smile.

"Is that the one you wore to Mars?" Ariel frowned. "You've gotten a bit shorter since your last body."

"Ah, only an inch," the Doctor shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"That must be so weird. Shrinking in size," Ariel remarked with a soft sigh. "Still, it brings out your eyes," she nodded.

"I know right?!" the Doctor exclaimed with a laugh. "Come on, if we hurry, we can have time for cocktails."

"Oh, yes!" Ariel grinned. "I'd love a Cosmopolitan. I haven't had a good cocktail since Agatha Christie."

"It's a shame she had to forget us," the Doctor shrugged as he pulled on his helmet.

"Yeah," Ariel sighed.

"Are you ready?" the Doctor smirked, holding out his hand.

"Always," Ariel grinned. She took his hand and they ran outside before allowing the low gravity to sweep them off their feet and giggling wildly as they did so.

They bounced around for an hour until a white rocket ship flew straight toward the moon and landed loudly a couple hundred feet across from them. Ariel watched it with wide eyes as it landed and slid down in the Doctor's arms to press her feet on the moon's surface.

"What day did you say it was?" Ariel wondered.

"I didn't," the Doctor shook his head, noticing the ship as well. His concern began to grow alongside Ariel's as his gaze remained fixed on it.

"Didn't you say we were a year before the first humans stepped foot on the moon?" Ariel frowned.

"Yeah," the Doctor mumbled.

"What was the rest of the date on the Tardis console?" Ariel asked. "Besides the year it's supposed to be, 1968."

The Doctor took a shaky breath. "The twenty-fourth of July," he murmured, realizing he had probably misread the date.

"Is there any chance that this is the twenty-fourth of July, 1969, and not 1968?" Ariel prompted.

"There is a very large chance of that, yes," the Doctor nodded.

"Bloody hell!" Ariel cried.

"Oi, don't swear!" the Doctor reprimanded.

"Oh, you can hush up," Ariel moaned. "We're about to meet Neil Armstrong and inform him that he's actually not the first person on the moon. All in all, not the best way to greet someone," she shrugged.

"We could just leave you know," the Doctor suggested with wide, innocent eyes that sparkled slightly when she gazed up at him, portraying that diar instinct of wanting to stay no matter the circumstances.

It didn't take long before the Doctor and Ariel dissolved into loud laughter, kneeling over as they grinned at each other. They both knew there was no way they would leave so soon. Especially not when neither of them had met Neil Armstrong. It was an opportunity they couldn't pass up on.

"I wonder what's taking so long," Ariel frowned, narrowing her eyes at Apollo eleven. "He should get on with the 'one small step for man' stuff, I'm getting kinda hungry."

"You're hungry?" the Doctor frowned, glancing down at her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders and glancing down at her with immediate concern. He hadn't stopped to consider that the last time Ariel had eaten was before she even met the Master.

"Oh, it's no big deal," Ariel shrugged. "I'm running on adrenaline," she assured him with a soft smile and a small nod. She didn't need him growing concerned about her when they were about to meet Neil Armstrong. Though it was adorable, she wasn't dying for food at the moment. She knew she would survive.

Eventually, Neil Armstrong got out of Apollo 11, sparking the interest of the Doctor and Ariel.

The ladder descended and Neil Armstrong, in his bulky astronaut suit, stepped down it slowly.

"Okay, I'm gonna step off the ladder," Neil announced. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," he said, speaking the famous words that would go down in history.

Ariel glanced up at the Doctor with wide, anxious eyes, silently screaming the question she had been dying to ask since she had seen Neil finally appear.

The Doctor chuckled and nodded. "Yes, we can go," he said. "I believe all they have left to do is put the flag up," he mumbled with a slight frown.

"Then they leave?" Ariel asked and the Doctor nodded.

"The first trip to the moon by mankind lasted barely two minutes," the Doctor said.

"Huh," Ariel muttered. "When you learn about it in classes and read about it, it always seemed like it was longer. Like they wandered around and collected rocks and rubbish."

"Oh, they did," the Doctor nodded. "It didn't take them long though. How long did you think it took to grab space rocks?" He frowned.

"Ten minutes?" Ariel winced. Looking at it now, she couldn't believe she thought it had taken so long. Clearly they wouldn't need much. "I don't know," she shrugged. "Stop staring at me."

The Doctor laughed and grabbed her hand. "Come on. Remember to steer clear of the TV cameras," he advised and Ariel nodded.

It wouldn't bode well to have her face appear on TV screens twenty-one years before she was born, and even still, inform the world that she and the Doctor were the actual first footprints on the moon and Neil had come in as a nice third.

They stepped up behind the cameras as the two other astronauts that had traveled with Neil left the spacecraft. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

"Hello," the Doctor beamed. "I'm the Doctor and this is Ariel," he introduced, gesturing to Ariel who grinned and waved politely at the three men.

Neil nearly knocked his head right on the ship at the sound of voices other than Buzz and Michael. "What the hell?!" Neil exclaimed, staring at the pair of them with wide eyes.

"Colombia, Colombia, this is Houston, has something gone wrong? Over."

Ariel's eyes widened and she pressed a finger to her lips. "Shh, we're not here," she said. "As far as the world is concerned, you were the first man on the moon," she told him.

"She's right," the Doctor nodded. "Nobody needs to know we were here."

The three men exchanged wary glances, unsure if they should go along with the lie. Two strange people had shown up on the moon before them and seemed to know exactly who they were. Shouldn't they tell Earth about that?

However, despite their rationale, the three men did like the idea of being labeled the first expedition on the moon instead of just a close second. They wanted to go back home and receive the praise and admiration from their loved ones, rather than the pity of being just a few seconds too late.

Buzz was the first to decide, taking a deep breath and nodding to Neil. It wasn't worth it to blow that perfect image in front of the whole world. They could even risk turning into massive jokes back at NASA. None of them wanted to face that.

Neil sighed softly and nodded.

"Houston, this is Colombia. Nothing to worry about," Neil assured NASA. "Over."

"Brilliant," Ariel grinned.

"Now that that's settled, would you two mind telling us who the hell you are?" Michael frowned. "You sound British."

"That's 'cos I am," Ariel frowned. "Got a problem with that, do ya?"

"No," Michael shook his head. "I just wasn't aware Britain had a program set in place to get people on the moon."

"Oh, they don't," the Doctor shook his head. "It's a bit more complicated than that," he sighed.

"Well, start talking," Buzz insisted. "Because we just lied to the whole planet about being the first people on the moon."

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look. Neither had been sure if they should tell the astronauts where they had come from considering the fact that humanity had just taken its first steps out to the moon. Hearing of time and space travel and aliens might overwhelm the men. Regardless, the Doctor shrugged. They weren't going to stop asking soon and it was easier to just tell them and get it over with.

"We're time travellers," Ariel said simply and Neil dropped the large equipment he had been heaving in shock.

"What?" Michael gasped, his mouth hanging open as he stared at them with wide eyes, hoping it was some odd joke.

"Ariel came from the year 2008, after you had already made history as the first man on the moon," the Doctor nodded, smirking slightly at Neil.

"You're joking," Buzz frowned, praying that was the case.

"Nope," Ariel shook her head. "'Fraid not," she shrugged.

"Then, you're insane," Michael nodded, shrugging as though that was the only reasonable explanation. "Both of you. Time travel isn't possible."

"Well, it's possible in the future," Ariel said. "Who's to say we didn't travel from the future where time travel is possible just to see this moment. You three have made history you know."

"But wouldn't there be rules against that?" Neil shook his head. "Something to stop you from traveling back to this time?"

Ariel glanced up at the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. "This is usually his department," Ariel sighed. "I'm hardly an expert."

"Time isn't exactly what everyone assumes," the Doctor said simply. "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually — from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint — it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff," he sighed. The sentence got away from him yet again. Sally's words echoed in his mind as he failed to explain it cohesively.

"Okay, but why now?" Michael wondered. "Why, right as we're landing?"

"Well, we're only in this year because someone got the timing a bit off!" Ariel snapped.

"Oi, new Tardis!" the Doctor exclaimed. "You're lucky we didn't wind up in the fifty-first century. That's a harsh era to be on the moon," he shivered.

"Wait, so you didn't actually want to wind up here?" Buzz frowned.

"Not really, no," the Doctor sighed. "We were going for about a year before you lot."

"Great, so we get time travel in the future and it just winds up being screwy," Buzz murmured.

"Oh, no, not you lot," the Doctor assured them with a shake of his head. "You lot pull it off brilliantly. Albeit, a few misconstrued landings on the Titanic, but no major blunders."

"If we pull it off well, then why are you screwing it up?" Michael wondered.

Ariel snickered and glanced up at the Doctor, trying to hide her smile. "I'm sorry, but it's a good point," she shrugged.

"Hold on, you said 'you lot'. What do you mean by that?" Buzz frowned.

"The Doctor's an alien," Ariel shrugged.

"Oh, this is way too much for my head," Neil moaned.

"But he looks human," Michael remarked.

"No, we look Time Lord," Ariel shook her head. "That's his species. They came before us."

"But you're not-?" Buzz prompted, glancing down at Ariel with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, no," the Doctor shook his head. "Ariel is completely human," he assured them.

"Great, 'cause I don't think I can take two aliens walking up to me when I've just landed on the moon," Neil sighed, rubbing his helmet as though he were rubbing his forehead.

Ariel giggled as she watched them try to digest all the information they were giving them. They knew it was a lot, but they couldn't exactly explain their presence on the moon without throwing it all at them. They didn't plan on lying to the team and forcing them to go back home thinking something was completely wrong. It was easier to explain it all to them and leave knowing they wouldn't tell others, mostly because as the three of them glanced at each other, they knew that nobody would believe them. Humanity was already astounded they could reach the moon, there was no way they'd believe in time travel and aliens just yet. The only reason the three men did believe them was the proof standing right before their eyes.

They had heard nothing of Britain launching an expedition to the moon and they didn't see a large spaceship telling the team that the pair were lying and had come from the Earth. Even the spacesuits the pair wore looked entirely different from what they would've found on Earth. There was no doubt in their minds that they were somewhere else.

However, before the trio could bombard the pair with questions about the strange alien and the future, there was a loud shrill scream from off in the distance.

They all turned to the source and spotted nothing, meaning they would have to find out whatever the hell that was.

"Don't tell me," Neil sighed. "More time travelers," he groaned.

"I don't think so," Ariel chuckled, glancing at the source of the sound with slight concern. "Regardless," she breathed and glanced up at the Doctor.

"Right," the Doctor nodded. "We should get going. It was good meeting all of you," he waved. He grabbed Ariel's hand and started running in the direction of the scream while the three men frowned after them.

"You're not really going towards that, are you?!" Michael called.

"It's kind of what we do," Ariel shrugged, glancing back at them with a small smirk before turning back to the Doctor.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of going with them," Buzz frowned, watching as Michael stared at the couple with wide eyes.

"They need help," Michael shrugged. "Plus, I think we've got things covered here," he nodded, glancing down at the equipment. "Whatever that was, it sounded bad."

"Which is exactly why we should stay back," Neil sighed. "That girl, Ariel, she said we were remembered in history. Don't you wanna live to see that legacy?"

"We can't let them go out there and risk their lives just so we get to live out a legacy," Michael shook his head. "Stay behind if you want, but I'm gonna help them," he said once again with a short nod before turning his attention to the Doctor and Ariel and running after them.

"He's gonna get himself killed," Neil murmured.

"Not if we go after him," Buzz said with wide eyes.

"What?" Neil frowned, glancing back at Buzz. "Did you not listen to a word the Doctor and Ariel said? We can't die here."

"And if we've got each other and the pair of them looking out for us, we won't," Buzz nodded. "Come on, Armstrong, live a little."

"I have lived a little!" Neil exclaimed. "I've gone to the moon! Who else can say that?"

"Well, let's see," Buzz sighed. "Me, Michael, the Doctor, Ariel, and all the other dozens of people they'll send out on expeditions when we succeed," he shrugged. "Who else can say they battled some creature on the surface of the moon?" He wondered, raising an eyebrow at Neil.

Neil sighed and glanced back at where the Doctor, Ariel and Michael's bodies were retreating. "You guys are gonna get me killed," he mumbled.

"Well, at least you'll die knowing you did something that half of NASA won't be bragging about doing within the next year," Buzz chuckled and the pair of them ran to join the Doctor, Ariel and Michael.

* * *

 **A/N The next chapter will be entirely non-canonical. It will stick alongside the canon that the moon is an egg despite my hopes to do anything but that, that is where the story flowed. However a major difference is this will mean extremely early on in his eleventh face the Doctor learns that the moon is an egg. If you do not want to read a non-canonical chapter you can skip to the chapter after this next one without missing anything wildly important.**


	5. The Creature on The Moon

**A/N: Reminder this chapter is not canon. I'm not even gonna try to have every aspect of this story canonical anymore. I'll keep it within canon of new who as best as possible, but the rest is not going to be because I want to focus on telling the story this time instead of stressing over all of canon. If you are going to be the type of person who needs canon or wants every single detail to be accurate to the series this story is not going to be for you. Sorry!**

* * *

"Are we really doing this?" Ariel mumbled, trudging alongside the Doctor across the Moon. "Are we really going on a mission with Louis Armstrong on the bloody moon?!"

"Oh, I don't think of it like a mission," the Doctor shook his head. "More like an exciting quest," he hummed.

Ariel stared at him with a slight frown for a moment before shaking her head and glancing around them. "Regardless, I have no idea where that scream could've come from. Is there even supposed to be life on the Moon yet?"

"Ah, there's an indigenous species that should be just beginning to grow in population," the Doctor hummed.

"Well, if they were the ones that screamed then that means that something's here that shouldn't be," Ariel decided.

"Agreed," the Doctor nodded.

"So, what are we heading into here?" Buzz asked, trudging up to the couple with a small frown. "Because if we're gonna see more aliens-."

"I'm just going to stop you right there," Ariel smirked, holding up a hand. "Traveling with him almost always means aliens."

"There are aliens on the moon?" Neil muttered.

"Technically we are aliens on the moon," Ariel mumbled with a slight shrug.

"But other aliens," Neil sighed. "Non-human aliens," he said, eyeing the Doctor warily.

"Well, of course there are other aliens on the moon," the Doctor smiled. "Did you really think you were alone?"

"This is gonna make my head ache," Michael sighed.

"Join the party," Neil chuckled.

"That hardly matters now," Ariel shook her head. "Whatever species lives on this moon they are in danger and it's our job to help them," she said.

The Doctor beamed at her and the three men shared wide eyed gazes before nodding and turning back to Ariel.

"Where do we start?" Buzz smirked.

"I think I found a good starting point," Michael said, staring off into the distance with large eyes and dilated pupils. He raised up a finger that shook even through his suit and pointed to something in the distance. "I believe that's where the screaming came from, Doctor."

The Doctor and Ariel followed his line of sight and stepped forward to see piles of alien bodies, covered in blood.

"Oh, my God," Ariel breathed.

"Whatever's here, it's killing them," the Doctor murmured.

"Why would it do that?" Ariel frowned, shaking her head. "What reason would it have to kill everybody?"

"I dunno, but I'm going to find out," the Doctor said, his jaw clenched as he took a deep breath and marched forward.

Ariel glanced back at the three men and nodded before following him. Michael did the same but before Buzz could follow, Neil grabbed his arm.

"Are we really going to be following whatever left the pile of dead bodies?" He asked, his eyes wide.

"Come on, Neil," Buzz smirked. "What's the point in going to the moon if you can't have a little fun?"

"Funny enough, I don't find dying fun," Neil sighed.

"Then don't die," Buzz shrugged. Before Neil could say another word, Buzz shrugged out of his grasp and ran towards the Doctor and Ariel.

Ariel and Michael knelt down beside the pile of bodies while the Doctor surveyed the area. The bodies were definitely not human. They appeared more like reptiles than another race of being with light green skin and red eyes, some baring black spots across their spine. However, the scene of the crime was much more astounding to the men than the sight of what another alien looked like. There were bodies across the surface of the moon, all massacred so that none may survive or even stand a chance at it.

This wasn't just a creature killing people out of fear, these deaths held intent.

"Whatever did this, it meant to kill them. It's not afraid, it's angry," Ariel frowned.

"If this thing isn't from the moon like you said, then why would it come here just to kill people?" Buzz wondered.

"I'm not sure," Ariel hummed. "Doctor, do you have anything?" She called.

"There's something in the distance," the Doctor mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the figure.

"Could it be whatever killed them?" Ariel asked, gesturing back to the bodies.

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "No, this almost looks like a ship," he murmured.

"The ship of the creature that came here then," Ariel nodded.

"Probably," the Doctor sighed. "But if that's the case then whatever killed the Kelar came here with intent because that is landed perfectly."

"That's what they're called?" Michael prompted. "Kelar?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, but never mind that," he said, turning back to the men. "We need to head to that ship. If I'm right and it belongs to whatever landed here, maybe, we can find out a bit more about why they came."

"Isn't it obvious?" Neil frowned, marching over to the pile of bodies. "They came here to kill."

"No, I don't believe that," the Doctor shook his head. "There has to be some reason behind this and if we can figure that out then we can stop it," he nodded.

"Doctor," Buzz frowned, marching forward and watching as a row of large spiders, far bigger than anything they had seen on earth, left the furthest body and seemed to be marching in unison toward a certain location. "What is that?" He frowned.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand and stepped forward, narrowing his eyes at the scene. "Something we need to follow," he said. "Come on," he nodded to the men.

They each shared wary looks, unsure of what they could be following but nevertheless they nodded and followed him.

"It really had to be follow the spiders," Ariel sighed. "We're really going for Harry Potter here," she moaned.

The Doctor snickered. "Oh, but follow the butterflies is less fun," he said with a small shrug.

"Follow the butterflies is less creepy!" Ariel exclaimed.

The Doctor chuckled and shook his head. "Of all the things you have faced Ariel Parsons you choose to be freaked out by giants spiders," he smirked.

"Well, a girl's gotta be afraid of something," she mumbled, shrugging bitterly.

The Doctor laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "How right you are."

"You realize we don't actually know a thing about these people right?" Neil frowned. "They could be just leading us into a trap."

"Why would they do that?" Michael wondered. "They seem trustworthy."

"Yeah, seeming and being are two very different things though," Neil sighed.

"Stop worrying yourself," Buzz moaned. "We know enough to know that if they wanted us dead they would've done it when we first ran from the cameras."

"But they didn't," Michael nodded.

"And instead, they showed us alien bodies that were murdered and we need to find the killer," Buzz said.

"Why do we have to do it?" Neil frowned. "We could just let them be and go back home while they take care of it. They seem pretty well-adjusted to this sort of stuff."

"And if they die?" Michael prompted, raising an eyebrow at Neil.

"Then they died knowing the risk," Neil shrugged.

"We know the risk too," Buzz nodded. "And if we die saving them that's not so bad."

"Why are you two bent on saving the people we just met?!" Neil exclaimed. "I don't get it."

"And I don't get why you're not just as thrilled about an adventure," Buzz frowned. "We get to face a creature on the moon. It's like something out of one of those science fiction books."

"There is way more risk than reward on this adventure than a trip to the moon," Neil said.

"No there isn't," Buzz said, shaking his head. "Our shuttle could've blown up just like all the others before it but we chose to be in it anyway and look where it got us," he said, smiling as he extended his arms out to the moon. "Just look at it this way, we had a one in a million chance when coming here and we have a one in a million chance of defeating this thing so ignore the million and focus on the one," he nodded.

Neil clenched his jaw and sighed deeply. "Alright, but if I get killed during this little expedition of yours, I'm coming back as a ghost to haunt you," he warned.

Buzz snorted and shook his head. "I wouldn't expect any less, Armstrong."

Michael smiled as he watched Neil march towards the Doctor and Ariel and Buzz granted him a reassuring nod. They would get through this and have fantastic memories following them into their old age.

"There they are!" the Doctor exclaimed. The spiders all darted beneath a small ridge where spider webs covered the open areas and left just enough room for the bodies of the spiders to run through.

"How many of those are there?" Ariel frowned as the Doctor ran forward, skidding on the rocks as he did so.

"Hard to tell," the Doctor sighed. "Hundreds?" He guessed.

"Are you sure it's safe to stick your head down there?" Michael frowned. "It looks like that place is their home."

The Doctor turned to him with the large grin he usually wore when he was about to embark on something completely reckless but didn't care. Ariel smiled when she recognized that face from his previous one. Some things never change.

"Nope," the Doctor shrugged, but of course, he did it anyway.

Ariel bolted over to him and peered over his head as he knelt down and narrowed his eyes at the tiny but dark cavern the spiders lurked in.

The Doctor began to lean forward even further and as he did so, once of the large black spiders shrieked as it pounced on the Doctor and tossed him onto his back.

"Doctor!" Ariel screamed. She and the three men raced forward to try and pull the spider off the Doctor while he squirmed around on the ground trying to do the same.

Behind Ariel, the spiders all began running from their cavern at the sight of a potential attacker.

"They're getting away!" Michael yelled, jumping away from the Doctor as he watched the spiders with wide eyes.

Ariel peered over her shoulders at the creatures all scattered about, running for their lives. "Get me a torch!" She barked at the men, still trying to tear the spider from the Doctor's face.

"What for?" Buzz frowned.

"Just do it!" Ariel screamed.

Without another word, Neil pulled a flashlight from his suit and tossed it to her. She caught it and passed him a grateful nod before turning to the spiders.

"Keep trying to get it off him but don't let it leave," she instructed the men.

"What are you gonna do?" Michael frowned.

"I'm gonna drive the spiders back home," she smirked. She turned on the torch and aimed it at the spiders. Most of them scattered, but some raced back into the cavern to hide. Once she turned away, the men managed to pull the spider off the Doctor and it scrambled back into the cavern.

Ariel grinned and tossed the torch back to Neil before helping the Doctor to his feet and hugging him tightly.

"What did you do?" Michael asked, glancing back at the spiders that were disappearing from view. Ariel turned to face him and the Doctor did the same, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he did so.

"It's like when you turn the light on in a room and watch as some bugs scatter into their hiding spaces. It was a hunch, but I was thinking if they looked like spiders then they must think like common bugs on earth," Ariel shrugged.

"Brilliant, love," the Doctor smiled and kissed her temple. She grinned and wrapped her arm around his waist, squeezing tightly.

"You risked them getting angry and attacking you on a hunch?" Buzz frowned.

"Traveling with the Doctor you learn to always follow your gut instinct," Ariel nodded and the Doctor smirked. "Plus, it's not like we had a lot of time to sit around and debate on the matter," she said.

"Fair point," Buzz conceded with a shrug.

"But, hold on," Neil said, holding up a hand. "How many of those things were there and how did they get here? Because I'm getting the fact that the aliens we saw earlier just naturally evolved on here, but did some spiders do the same?"

"Good question," the Doctor nodded. He turned back to the cavern where some of the spiders were still nestled. "Shine your light down there so we can get a better look."

Neil nodded and did as he instructed while the Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand and guided her down to see.

"Just for the record, I really don't like spiders," Ariel winced.

"Oh, come on, what are they gonna do to you?" the Doctor chuckled.

"I don't know, maybe, attack my face like they did to you?" Ariel suggested with wide eyes.

"Fair point," the Doctor nodded. "Maybe, we should just take another step back to be safe," he resigned with a sigh.

Once they did so, the Doctor took the opportunity to narrow his eyes at the spiders and try to work out where they were from.

"I think they've been here the whole time," the Doctor mumbled with a frown. "Evolving," he hummed.

"What, so are they're what we've been looking for?" Michael wondered. "Did they kill the Kelar?"

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "Whatever killed them landed here. They're afraid of it."

"The spiders are afraid of the creature?" Buzz frowned. "Well, that bodes well," he scoffed.

"Yeah, he's right," Neil nodded. "Because those spiders weren't afraid to defend their home but since there was a chance they would be attacked by whatever that creature is, they ran."

"And notice how they were all scattered," Ariel said. "Some of them crawled back inside here while some left."

"These creatures have evolved to act in unison with each other. It's a sort of pack mentality but in these spiders. The lone wolf dies but the pack survives. We saw that when they marched from the bodies of the Kelar in a single straight line. They have unified thinking."

"What, like the hive mind in the Ood?" Ariel asked with a small frown.

"No, nothing that elaborate," the Doctor shook his head. "Right now this is purely evolution keeping them together. They know there's strength in numbers."

"So, how come only one attacked you and the others left?" Buzz wondered.

"I believe that must be how the creature's changed them. They must have been attacked by it as well and if that's the case then whatever it is, they only found safety in running," the Doctor sighed.

"I'm feeling much better about this with each passing minute," Michael said sarcastically.

"But that's not what we need to concern ourselves with," the Doctor said, shaking his head to dismiss the manner.

"Oh, really?" Neil prompted, raising an eyebrow. "Because I'm a bit concerned."

"No, it's the fact that some of them stayed behind. There are more spiders in there than the ones that Ariel chased inside which means they're here to defend something."

"What could a bunch of spiders on the moon defend?" Buzz wondered with a small frown.

"That's what we have to figure out," the Doctor hummed. He marched away from the cavern and the men exchanged curious frowns, but followed. The Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand and squeezed tightly.

"Still afraid?" the Doctor prompted.

"Not a chance," Ariel smiled.

"Good," the Doctor grinned.

The walked up to a small cliff that lead to a massive drop and the Doctor peered down as the men all walked up to stand in a row and do the same.

"What is it?" Neil breathed.

Ariel knelt down and narrowed her eyes at the drop, there was some sort of shimmering, moving liquid at the bottom of it.

"Doctor," Ariel breathed. "There's something down there," she murmured. "Some sort of liquid."

"Water?" Buzz proposed with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Michael breathed. "There's no water on the moon," he shook his head.

"He's right," the Doctor nodded. "So, what's down there?" He wondered.

"We need a way to get to it," Neil said.

The five of the all peered around the moon's surface for a way to get to it when their eyes all fell on the same location. Right beside the alien ship that had landed, there was a ledge that hovered just over the fluid and would give them a chance to get a better look at it.

"Oh, hell no!" Michael exclaimed, turning away with wide eyes. "If that thing can terrify the spiders that evolved here and create that kinda bloodbath with the Kelar I am not going near its home."

"There may be a chance it's not even there," Ariel shrugged, trying to downgrade the serious threat going to the ship posed.

"And there's a chance it is," Michael nodded. "There is no way in hell you are getting me to go near that ship."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Michael marched behind Neil and Buzz who followed Ariel and the Doctor on the way to the ship.

There was a rope tying his wrists together and keeping him on a makeshift leash which Buzz held with great pleasure. It was rude, but it was the only way to stop him yelling that the creature would kill them the second they got within ten feet of its house. Plus, it allow Ariel a nice giggle every time she looked back and saw him glaring at Buzz and Neil.

"Alright," the Doctor sighed, spinning around and stopping the party in its tracks. "Ariel and I will check the fluid and see what it is. If we need more information we'll head to the ship after, but until we figure that out, we're going to need you three to keep an eye out and make sure nothing is coming. You know what the Kelar look like so you know what this thing isn't."

"Why do we have to be on lookout?!" Michael exclaimed. "I can test the fluid, I-!"

Before he could finish, Buzz tugged roughly on the rope and silenced him.

"We're gonna do what the Doctor says, alright?" Buzz said, narrowing his eyes at Michael like an angry father. "If you don't like it, go back in the ship and go home," he sighed.

"Gladly," Michael smirked, spinning around only to have the rope pulled again by Buzz.

"We're not going home, Michael," Neil moaned. "Not yet," he said. "We're in the middle of this now. We have to see it through."

"Glad to see you've decided to help us, Neil," the Doctor smiled.

"Yeah, well, I can't exactly go back home knowing I left an alien race to die now can I?" Neil smirked, shrugging slightly as she spoke.

Ariel grinned at him and glanced at the other two men. "Are we clear on the plan?"

"Clear as can be, princess," Buzz smirked and Ariel could've sworn she felt the Doctor's grip on her hand tighten.

Ariel just shook her head and giggled. She loved when he got jealous. She squeezed his hand once to reassure him.

"Alright, you lot keep your eyes on that ship and if anything moves, let us know," the Doctor instructed and the men nodded.

The Doctor turned to Ariel and gestured for her to move forward toward the edge that lead down into a dark cavern containing the fluid.

"This way ma'am," the Doctor smiled.

"Why thank you, Ser Doctor," Ariel grinned and did a small curtsey for him.

The Doctor chuckled and followed her as she walked over to the very edge and peered down. He did the same and frowned.

"It looks," she mumbled. "It looks thicker than water but it's still clear," she remarked.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the substance. "Hold my legs," he said.

"Wait, what?" Ariel frowned.

The Doctor laid down on his stomach and started scooting off the edge.

"Oh!" Ariel exclaimed, drawing the attention of the men momentarily.

"What's he doing?" Neil mumbled.

"Hell, if I know," Buzz sighed and shrugged. "Just leave it."

"I intend to," Neil chuckled.

Meanwhile, Ariel held the Doctor's feet as she lowered him into the cavern slowly.

"And you're sure this is a good idea?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"Nope!" the Doctor beamed.

Ariel giggled and shook her head. "Ah, you haven't changed a bit have you?"

"You love it," the Doctor smiled before he was just inches away from the fluid. "Stop!" He cried and she stopped moving him immediately.

The Doctor dipped his finger into the liquid and sniffed it before taking a small taste. He frowned. It was odd to say the least.

"Alright, Ariel, bring me back up!" He called.

"Got it!" Ariel yelled. She slowly pulled his legs back up until he was laying on his stomach on the ground once again with the fluid still dripping from his fingers.

Ariel dropped down by his side with a sigh. "What is it?" She wondered, her tone breathy and curious as she stared at the fluid.

"Amniotic fluid," the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel frowned. "But that's-," she began.

"The fluid surrounding a fetus," the Doctor nodded. "The stuff that life comes from."

"Have you found anything?!" Neil called.

"Oh, we found a whole lot of something," Ariel murmured, nodding furiously. "What do we do?"

"Concerning the moon? Nothing. If this moon really is an egg then it deserves to hatch in due time. Right now we need to concern ourselves with the creature killing those living peacefully on the moon," the Doctor said.

Ariel nodded, sighing softly as she looked down at the ground. All of a sudden, a thought popped in her head. If this creature was killing everything it laid eyes on, maybe it wasn't doing it out of anger. If the moon really was an egg maybe this creature was trying to protect it but didn't understand what was a threat and what was friendly.

"But, Doctor, what if that's it?" Ariel proposed with wide eyes. "What if the thing that's doing all the killing isn't really trying to kill at all? What if it's protecting the baby?"

The Doctor's eyes grew large and he jumped up to his feet, extending his hand to Ariel to help her up. "If you're right then we need to talk to this thing now. Stop all the killing before it commits genocide."

"Right," Ariel nodded.

"It's here!" Neil called. "It's coming! Hell, is that thing massive," he breathed.

The Doctor and Ariel ran forward to see a seven foot tall creature that looked like a lion and tiger entwined to make some sort of humanoid alien walking on two legs. It had razor sharp teeth and fierce eyes and it snarled at the sight of them.

"We need to get the hell out of here!" Buzz yelled, tightening his grip on Michael's rope and getting ready to run.

"Wait!" the Doctor cried, raising his hands as though he were surrendering. "Just wait!"

"Is he nuts?!" Neil exclaimed. "That thing'll kill us all in seconds."

"No," Ariel shook his head. "He's not crazy. He's trying to stop another genocide."

"Another?" Buzz frowned. "What was the first?

Ariel turned to him with poison dripping from his eyes making Buzz actually take a step back at the sight. "Don't ask," she mumbled, shaking her head firmly.

All Buzz could do was nod.

"Listen to me, listen!" the Doctor barked at the creature. "I know you can understand me so even if you don't speak, just listen. These people are not here to harm it. They don't even know it's here. You are killing innocents. They won't pose any threat to you or the baby."

The creature tilted its head curiously but did not respond.

"Baby?" Neil frowned. "What's he talking about?"

"It's nothing," Ariel shook her head before marching up to the Doctor's side, the creature grunted in her presence angrily unsure if she was a threat or an ordinary individual and the Doctor extended his arm out to shield her.

"We don't want to hurt you," the Doctor said, his tone calm and level as he spoke. "But something tells me whoever sent you here didn't stop to think that live had evolved. The people that have evolved on this moon are harmless. I swear to you."

"How can you know this?" The creature grumbled.

"Because I know them," the Doctor nodded.

"If they knew about the baby I'm sure they'd be more than willing to defend it with you," Ariel promised.

"And maybe they can teach you the difference between those who are innocent and those who would harm the child," the Doctor nodded.

The creature bowed his head. "They fear me."

"They don't have to," the Doctor shook his head. "We can negotiate with them. We can stop the killing."

The creature watched each of them warily, seeming to be internally battling whether or not he should kill them, run, or go along with what they said.

"Why?" He wondered.

"Because we've taken lives before," the Doctor nodded. "And no one should carry the weight of killing an innocent."

Ariel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to wash the images from her mind that had stirred upon the Doctor's words. She glanced up at his face and spotted him wincing, obviously fighting the same thing.

"You think you can negotiate with them?" The creature prompted.

"I know I can," the Doctor nodded.

"Then I will allow you, but if you fail I will kill them all," the creature promised.

"I don't doubt it," the Doctor murmured.

"Go, now," the creature breathed. "Go."

The Doctor nodded and turned back to the trio. "Come on, I know where the Kelar base camp is."

"What just happened?" Buzz wondered, shaking his head aimlessly.

"Did you just manage to negotiate with that thing?" Michael frowned, nodding to the alien who snarled at him.

"Yes, and it won't stand very long if we stay here so come on!" the Doctor snapped.

The three men jumped into action and marched forward after the Doctor and Ariel.

"But how did you do it, Doctor?" Neil wondered, his tone breathy as he glanced back at the creature in concern as though it would let them leave just to attack them from behind. "How did you stop it from killing us?"

"By making a promise. A promise that no harm would come to the thing it dedicated its life to protect," the Doctor mumbled, glancing down at Ariel as he spoke.

Ariel beamed up at him and he just smiled. He would give anything to keep her safe.

"What is it?" Buzz asked. "What is it protecting? You mentioned something about a baby," he remembered.

The Doctor opened his mouth as though he were going to try and explain to the three men that the moon was an egg, but he shook his head and turned away. Now wasn't the moment, he just had to focus on what he would say to the Kelar when trying to make the creature that had been killing their race sound favorable.

"Quick question," Ariel sighed, falling into step beside the Doctor and grabbing his hand. "How are we gonna explain this to the Kelar without them thinking we're leading them into a mass genocide?" She wondered.

"That's the tricky bit," the Doctor nodded. "Tricky-dicky, but I think I've got something."

"Care to enlighten the rest of the class?" Ariel smirked, raising a curious eyebrow.

The Doctor glanced at her with a soft smile. He knew he could trust her with anything. Ever since he started running he had always loathed when he got into a position where there were nothing but bad choices and yet he still had to choose, but when she started traveling with him she saw and accepted those bad choices and never pinned the blame on him. She knew from experience the pain of having to choose when there was nothing good left and she had seen the Doctor having to face those decisions himself, but she knew better than most that it wasn't his fault. It was just the way the universe worked.

Sometimes the universe could grant you life and beauty beyond compare but other times it was just death and destruction. The Doctor was just grateful that no matter how bad it got, with Ariel by his side, he never had to do it alone. He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand making her grin at him and raise an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Ariel prompted.

"This can only end one of two ways, them agreeing to the terms or them killing him," he mumbled.

"Wha-how would they kill him?" Ariel wondered, her eyes large at the very prospect.

"The Kelar are grieving and we're about to walk in and ask them to trust the man that caused those deaths," the Doctor sighed. "You know from experience this only ends in hatred or peace."

Ariel winced and bowed her head. "But wouldn't that just end in a massacre? Whatever planet created that creature they didn't do it with the intent of him being easily defeated."

"And a whole army raising up against him was probably not taken into consideration when he was being created," the Doctor nodded. "I doubt the person that manufactured that creature even knew there was life on the moon other than the baby."

"Hold on," Michael said, marching up beside the couple. "You're talking like that thing was man made."

"Well, it was," the Doctor nodded. "Sort of, at least," he shrugged.

"What is he talking about?" Michael asked Ariel. "Is he saying humans made that creature?"

"No," Ariel shook her head. "The creature is protecting an unborn baby and that baby has to come from somewhere. My guess is, the race that baby belongs to devised a creature to keep it safe until it was born."

"Didn't you notice, Michael?" the Doctor hummed. "It looked like a perfect combination of lion and tiger standing on two feet. Someone created it to defend their child. He's nothing more than a foot soldier."

"Then there's something controlling it?" Michael frowned. "Shouldn't we be going after them?"

"Oh, Michael, whoever they are they're just protecting their child," Ariel sighed. "It's not worth it to attack someone for ensuring their kid is safe. If we did that we'd have to attack countless humans for starters."

"But it's killed people!" Michael insisted.

"It's scared and had no idea the difference between an innocent resident and an attacker. It's our job to tell the Kelar that," the Doctor said.

"How do we know they're gonna believe us?" Michael wondered.

"Because the other option isn't very pretty," Ariel sighed.

They reached what looked like a large cave covered with a large stone undoubtedly found by the Kelar on the moon.

On either side of the stone stood two soldiers bearing the same appearance as the dead Kelar they saw when they first got there.

They stood at arms in the presence of the five outside their walls.

"Damn," Neil hummed. "Living aliens," he mumbled.

"I know right," Buzz nodded. "Now do you wish you had left when we heard that first scream?" He smirked.

"Not a chance," Neil grinned.

"Oi, what's the big deal?" the Doctor frowned, pouting slightly at the fact that the men were making a bigger deal out of the Kelar than him. "I'm an alien," he nodded.

"Love, I think they're just excited to see living aliens that look nothing like them. You look like you could pass as human," Ariel smiled and nodded.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, still pouting like an upset child. "Fine. If they prefer the grumpy ones," he murmured and Ariel barked out a laugh.

"Don't be too put off. I still love you," Ariel grinned, taking his hand and squeezing tightly.

The Doctor beamed at her and nodded, squeezing her hand once in return. He took a deep breath and turned to the soldiers.

"I beg audience with Commander Canyon in accordance with Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor said formally.

"Parlay?" One of the soldiers chuckled while the other just shook his head and laughed. "We have no feud with you, Doctor."

"You remember me?" the Doctor frowned.

"The man who could change his face upon will and always traveled with a pitiful human on his arm," the man sneered. "How could we forget?" He hummed.

"Well, then you will remember that I won't stop until I stop this killing," the Doctor hissed.

"There is no stop to the killing," the soldier snapped, slamming his foot down and sneering at the Doctor. "If you wish to stop the murders then you will kill whatever thing that have sent down upon our home."

"You know that's not how I work," the Doctor hummed.

"Ah, yes, the Doctor born from bloodshed refuses to get his hands dirty but shames those who deal with things the only way they can," the soldier said.

"Stop!" Ariel snapped, stepping in front of the Doctor as he stared down at the ground in shame. "You don't know the full story."

"Do enlighten us, human," the soldier sneered.

"That creature didn't know your lot were here. It's killing because it's protecting something that is far more precious than you can imagine. It doesn't know the difference between those who are innocent and those who just want to attack it."

"I'm going to need a lot more than that if I'm going to let you see my commander."

"Just tell him I'm here," the Doctor nodded, stepping forward. "Tell him I'm here and let him decide what to do next," he said.

The soldier passed one wary glance over the man but took a deep breath and nodded, turning to head inside the cave his people presumably inhabited.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ariel asked, turning to the Doctor with a slight frown. "What if he decides to kill you, we don't have any way of stopping him."

"Exactly, they have weapons and I don't," the Doctor smiled. "Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can kill me dead but the moral high ground is mine."

"Is he mad or is he just always like this?" Neil frowned.

"Both, actually," Ariel sighed. "But are you sure you want to take this risk just to get to speak to the commander?"

"If it stops his forces from closing in on that creature, then yes," the Doctor nodded. "We don't kill," he reminded her.

"I know," Ariel winced. "I shouldn't have even brought it up."

"Then why did you?" the Doctor wondered, stepping closer to her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I think," Ariel took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. The Doctor, seeing that she was having trouble coming to terms with what she must admit to him, pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back in the smallest form of comfort.

"What is it?" the Doctor breathed.

Ariel took a deep breath and glanced up at the Doctor with watery eyes. "I think ever since the Master had me kill Naismith something's been changing," she admitted. "I don't know what but I-," she sighed. "Doctor, I'm scared," she said, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks as she confessed what she had been wary of the moment she put a bullet in Naismith's head.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he pulled her into another hug, this time much tighter than before.

"It'll be alright," the Doctor mumbled. "I promise," he nodded. "We'll figure out what to do."

Ariel sobbed quietly into his chest and he clung to her tightly. Even after the Master was gone he still won. He still tore down whatever barrier Ariel held up in her mind between absolutely no killing and the ability to take a life. The Doctor closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, silently swearing that he would help the girl in his arms no matter the cost.

"What's wrong?" Buzz frowned, taking a tentative step forward toward the Doctor and Ariel.

The Doctor took a deep breath and turned to look at him, still keeping his arms around Ariel as she cried.

"There was a man, not too long ago, that forced her to kill somebody. It's still affecting her right now," the Doctor explained as simply as he could.

"Well, he should be arrested," Michael nodded, casting his eyes down at the sobbing Ariel and frowning. She was just a young girl. An innocent and kind girl who didn't deserve to feel the weight of someone's blood on her hands.

"It's not that simple," the Doctor shook his head.

"What do you mean it's not that simple?" Neil frowned. "Look at her, Doctor. She's a mess. Whoever did this to her should be in prison."

"They're right," Buzz nodded. "He should be arrested for forcing her to take a life. That blood is technically on his hands not hers."

"No, it's not that simple because he's gone," the Doctor snapped. "He's gone and there's nothing we can do about it," he sighed. No matter the pain the Master had caused, the Doctor still considered him a friend and he didn't want to face the fact that his friend was now dead forever.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Michael asked, but before the Doctor could answer, the stone shielding the cave rolled away once again and a group of people marched out.

Ariel jumped out of the Doctor's arms and turned to face them, wiping away her few stray tears as the Doctor grabbed her hand and gave her a warm smile. She let out a soft sigh and grabbed his hand, needing his physical reassurance in that moment which he was more than happy to give.

A bunch of armed forces stepped out and to the side and a man that was much taller but seemingly much older than all of them stepped out and stepped right in front of the Doctor and Ariel.

"Is that him?" Neil asked. "Is that their commander?"

"Yes," Ariel breathed, nodded at the man. "He has to be."

The commander analyzed the Doctor's face as though trying to uncover what secrets it was hiding before smiling and granting him a single nod.

"You changed your face again. You are young," Commander Canyon remarked.

"And you're old, my friend," the Doctor smiled.

"No older than you," Canyon chuckled. "My soldiers tell me you've arrived under Convention 15. Tell me, what need do you have to stop my people from murdering one creature that has killed hundreds of us?"

"He didn't know what he was doing," Ariel said.

"She's right," the Doctor nodded. "We have reason to believe that the creature was sent here to protect something very precious."

"And that would be?" Canyon prompted.

"A baby," Ariel said.

Commander Canyon frowned. "The only babies here are the children of my people and they are being slaughtered."

"No, this is not one of your children. This baby has been here far before any of you started living here," the Doctor said.

"The baby is inside the moon," Ariel hummed and the eyes of the three men behind them went large.

"What?!" Commander Canyon exclaimed.

"Don't be ridiculous," Michael scoffed.

"How can a baby be inside the moon?" Buzz frowned.

"The moon is an egg and it was laid here millions of years ago for a child to grow inside of it. A child placed here to grow along with the earth and to hatch when it can fly away on its own."

"Don't talk nonsense to me, Doctor," Canyon sneered.

"It isn't nonsense," Ariel shook her head. "Your moon has amniotic fluid coming from it. That fluid is found on earth when babies are growing before they are born."

"So are you saying this comes from the earth?" Canyon frowned.

"No, we're saying it has the same fluid found around every baby growing before birth and that this creature you are facing wants to defend the child," the Doctor said.

"Why has it not shown up sooner if it is destined to protect this baby you claim is growing beneath the feet of my people?" He wondered.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look.

"We can only guess that it's because the parents of this child have spent a lifetime trying to create the perfect creature to defend their baby," Ariel shrugged.

"You guess?" Canyon hissed. "I am basing the lives of my people on a guess?"

"It will not attack if it knows you're not here to harm it," the Doctor assured him. "I swear to you."

"And how am I to know this is not just another guess?" Canyon wondered.

"Because we were all there," Ariel said, nodding to the three men behind her, staring gobsmacked at the aliens. "You lot, tell them how the creature didn't attack us when we reasoned with it," she said.

"It's true," Buzz nodded.

"Yeah," Neil said. "It just let us go."

"It didn't even try to follow us," Michael shrugged.

"See?" the Doctor prompted. "You don't have to hurt it."

Commander Canyon turned back to the Doctor with narrowed eyes. "Am I to trust the word of a few lowly humans?"

"Oi, we're not lowly!" Ariel snapped.

"Damn, that's just rude," Neil mumbled.

"Then, trust my word Canyon. Trust our experience together and please do not kill this creature," the Doctor begged.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but it is already done. My soldiers are marching out to put a stop to the deaths as we speak," Canyon sighed.

"Then why did you come to talk to us?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"To see an old friend," Canyon said, nodding to the Doctor with a sympathetic smile. "And to see if my people were wrong and I could truly trust in the word of a Time Lord once again," he sighed. "It seems they were right," he mumbled. He turned to the soldiers awaiting his command. "Open the door."

They nodded and began pushing the stone out of his path.

"I am truly sorry, Doctor. I wish there was more that could be done," Canyon said.

"There is, Commander, you just have to listen to me and call back your troops," the Doctor begged.

"And tell them what?" Canyon frowned. "That they should retreat and trust the creature that has killed hundreds of them based on guesses and some fluid found by a man that started a war between us and the Ice Warriors?"

"Commander," the Doctor sighed.

"No, Doctor," Canyon shook his head. "It is done. You have worn many losses through many faces. You must accept this as just another one."

And with that, he turned away and marched back into the cave.

The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut and fought hard not to show any signs of pain at his loss. He was sick of losing. He was hoping that things would change with this new face but it seemed everything was just staying the same.

"Doctor," Ariel breathed, turning to him with sad, pitying eyes.

"No," the Doctor mumboled, turning away. "I should have never intervened."

"So, that's just it?" Buzz frowned. "We're giving up?"

"We don't have another choice," the Doctor said bitterly.

"Wait, yes we do," Michael nodded, unsure of why the others were unable to see it.

"What are you talking about?" Ariel asked, shaking her head aimlessly at the man.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Michael smirked. "The ship," he reminded them with a nod. "We may not be able to stop them from killing him but we can send him away. His ship didn't seem damaged so he could just go," he shrugged.

"He'll never agree to that," the Doctor said. "He was created to defend this moon. If we ask him to leave he won't understand the concept."

"Then we can take him back to his ship," Neil nodded. "We take him back and you set the coordinates so he can get away. I doubt he knows how to fly the thing anyway if he was created just to protect the moon. He was probably sent here."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the men with a small frown. "That could work," he mumbled.

"So there's hope?" Ariel prompted with a small smile.

"There's hope," the Doctor nodded, beaming at her.

"Well, then what are we waiting for?!" Ariel exclaimed. "Let's go!"

The men laughed as she bolted towards where they had last seen the creature before following along. The Doctor caught up to her and grabbed her hand as they ran, hoping to get there before the Kelar.

They spotted the creature laying down in the distance with no Kelar in sight and the Doctor and Ariel exchanged a grin before running faster to it. They had to make sure to get there before the Kelar started running up to the creature while it was vulnerable.

"Wake up!" Ariel screamed, skidding down the rocks of the moon. "You have to wake up!" She yelled.

The creature lifted its head and frowned at the sight of the five he had saved earlier running to him. His frown quickly fell into a sneer as he realized what it meant.

"You did not succeed," he said, standing up to face the Doctor.

"We tried to talk him out of it but he sent armies to kill you before we had even gotten to him," Ariel sighed.

"Armies?" The creature frowned.

"Far more than you could handle," Neil nodded.

"You have no idea what I can handle!" The creature spat.

"Can you handle thousands of people with weapons and the sole intent to kill you?" The Doctor prompted.

The creature faltered and the Doctor nodded. "Exactly," he sighed. "We have to get you out of here."

"There is nowhere I can go. You should leave me for dead."

"Not an option," Michael said, shaking his head. "We have a better plan. Do you remember the ship you came here in?"

"Yes."

"We're sending you home in it," the Doctor smiled.

"I don't have a home."

Ariel glanced at the Doctor with wide eyes, unsure of what their next move would be and he just stood frozen staring at the creature.

"You can come to Earth," Michael said and the couple turned to him with large eyes.

"What?" They both gasped.

"There are barren untouched lands across the planet," Michael shrugged. "If we can get him into one of those he won't have to worry about being caught."

"And what happens if he encounters people?" the Doctor wondered. "This is a big if, Michael."

"He's right," Buzz nodded. "How would we even get him through? There'll be a swarm once we land."

"We can work with that," Neil frowned. "They'll have to leave eventually and we can take him out and get him to the desert."

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "This is too big of a risk."

"Doctor, I don't think we have another choice," Ariel said. "Earth is the only place he can stay safe. Mars is dead and the moon is trying to kill him."

"I said them taking him was too big of a risk I didn't say he couldn't go to Earth," the Doctor said with a smirk.

Ariel's eyes widened as she realized what he was thinking. "We can take him," she breathed.

"Are you sure?" Michael frowned. "Your ship is small, it-."

"It's a lot bigger than you think," the Doctor chuckled. "Trust me, we can save him," the Doctor nodded.

"You risk so much," the creature remarked. "To save me. Why?"

"I'm not going to let anyone die because of me," the Doctor said simply.

"Does it make you feel better?" The creature wondered. "To save rather than kill?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and looked down. "Sometimes," he nodded. "And sometimes it just hurts."

"Then, sir Doctor, you leave me and allow me to pay for what I've done."

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "I can't."

"You must. If I spend the rest of my days on Earth hiding I will never get justice for the innocent lives that were killed. I deserve to pay for what I did."

"Are you sure?" Ariel frowned.

"We're not doing this, he deserves to live," the Doctor insisted.

"Doctor, I cannot save lives like you. I must find a way to pay for what I've done," he said.

"Doctor, if it's what he wants we can't do anything," Ariel shrugged.

"No, no, it's not fair!" the Doctor yelled. "Just this once, just this one time I want to get it right!"

"Doctor-," Ariel tried.

"No, no, because this is not the end! This can't be!" He insisted.

"You are a good man, Doctor," the creature said. "I am not. Let me die knowing there will be no more death."

"Doctor," Ariel muttered. "Doctor, look at me!" She barked, placing her hands on either side of his helmet and turning her to him. "If he wants to die this way that is his choice. He was created to murder people who step on the moon. He deserves to be able to make this choice."

"It's not fair," the Doctor mumbled, shaking his head.

"Nothing about this is fair," Ariel nodded. "But if we're going to honor his last wish we have to get going."

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded, closing his eyes momentarily to let that sink in. "Right," the Doctor murmured.

"Come on, you lot, we have to get going," Ariel nodded. She grabbed the Doctor's hand and as the three men started marching away she cast a glance over her shoulder to the creature.

"Thank you," the creature said.

"You're welcome," Ariel smiled.

They all headed away and heard the shouts of the Kelar army closing in. There was a last deafening roar of pain as the creature died and they all turned with large eyes to listen as it eventually died down and the armies retreated.

Ariel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't want to listen as the creature died but listening to its pleas she couldn't help but think of her father. All he wanted was to die before he could feel like a coward in front of his family. The creature didn't want to spend the rest of its days feeling like a coward and hiding away. It wanted justice and justice was what it got.

The Doctor gulped harshly and looked away as they marched back to Apollo 11 to say goodbye to the men.

"Well, Doctor, Ariel, it has been one hell of a ride," Buzz smirked. He shook hands with each of them and gave them one final passing nod before heading back inside.

"Doctor, I know you wanted to save him," Neil nodded. "We all did, but he died an honorable death. On his own terms."

The Doctor gave a faint ghost of a smile. "We did do something for him. We gave him the right to choose. For now, that's enough."

"Exactly," Neil smiled. "And Ariel, you're incredible, you are, and all of this is-."

"Wonderful," Ariel finished with a slight giggle and a nod. "That's the only word I can use to describe it. Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of our desire to understand," she quoted, forgetting for the moment that she was quoting Neil Armstrong to Neil Armstrong.

She turned to the Doctor with wide eyes and he seemed to be wearing a highly amused grin at the very sight of it.

"That's very good," Neil frowned. "Mind if I use that? After all I am technically stealing your title as first human on the Earth," he chuckled.

"It's all yours," Ariel giggled.

"Thanks," Neil smiled. "Goodbye, Doctor. Goodbye, Ariel," he said, waving as he reentered Apollo 11.

"Goodbye, Neil Armstrong," the Doctor smirked

"We didn't get to save him," Michael sighed. "But we gave him something better. If he would've come with us to the Sahara he would have spent his life cowering and hiding and needing to act like an actual animal everytime humans came by that he might actually have wound up reverting back to one. This is better," he nodded.

"I just wish we could've given him a better alternative," the Doctor sighed.

"Me too," Michael mumbled. "But regardless of the turn out, it was a ride, Doctor and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Glad you had fun," the Doctor smiled.

Michael nodded, a large grin painted across his lips before he turned to Ariel. "And you, there were moments when I doubted you but you turned out to be just as incredible as the Doctor. You're lucky to be together," he said and Ariel beamed up at him.

"And we were lucky to have you. You're the reason he got a choice rather than being slaughtered without warning," Ariel smiled.

"If only we could've given him more options," Michael hummed, nodding along.

"We did the best we could and sometimes, your best is all you can do," Ariel shrugged. "There's no shame in that."

"You're right," Michael nodded. "It was amazing meeting you. The both of you," he said, nodding to the Doctor.

"You too," Ariel smiled. She pulled Michael into a quick hug and when he pulled away, the couple waved as he went inside Apollo 11 and in a few moments, it took off, leaving the moon and returning home.

"So," Ariel smirked. "The first moon landing lasted two minutes did it?" She prompted, grinning as she raised a knowing eyebrow at the Doctor.

"Oh, I knew that would come back to haunt me!" the Doctor laughed and she giggled as he took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They started heading back to where the Doctor had parked the Tardis.

"Okay," the Doctor sighed. "Maybe a little longer than two minutes," he conceded.

"Just a bit, yeah," Ariel laughed.

"But never mind that, the adventure isn't over!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Ariel frowned.

"We have to go pick up Pond," the Doctor reminded her with wide eyes. "We can't leave her in that pitiful town."

"You're not wrong," Ariel sighed. "That town is smaller than the one I grew up in and that's saying something."

"Exactly!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I'm thinking we'll pick her up the night after so I don't get the timelines all mixed up."

"Yeah, don't need to get something like this again," Ariel sighed as they approached the Tardis.

The Doctor unlocked it and they both stepped inside, more than happy to take off their helmets and breathe in the air.

"Oh, come on," the Doctor moaned. "You had fun."

"Of course, I had fun," Ariel giggled. "Every place I go with you is fun," she shrugged.

The Doctor smiled and blushed bright pink. "You mean that?"

"'Course I do," Ariel beamed, walking over and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Why do you think I stay around?"

"Figured it was the sights if I'm honest," the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly, wrapping his arms around Ariel as well.

"Well actually,"Ariel hesitated, frowning as she thought.

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed, smacking her playfully on the arm.

"Kidding," Ariel giggled. "'Course it's you," she shrugged.

She looked up to trace her stormy grey eyes across his beautifully soft lips and she realized with a start that she had not kissed those lips before. Ever since the Doctor regenerated, they've been thrust into situations without a real second to stop and think.

He had not kissed her yet.

Hyper aware of every breath, her body kicked into overdrive as she found his green eyes dancing across her lips as well.

Before she could even begin to think, his lips brushed sensually over hers and she melted. His lips were soft, and warm, and gentle upon hers, pressing lightly and making butterflies race across her stomach. Subconsciously, she reached for him as she had always done with his last face and draped her arms over his shoulders, toying with the small tufts of hair on his neck.

She could've sworn she felt his lips quirk up into a smile as she threw herself into the kiss and when his tongue darted out to trace her lips, she opened to him eagerly. Her heart hammered out an uneven beat in her chest which she was sure he could hear, but if he minded, he didn't let it show.

Somehow, this felt more valuable than their first kiss. When she first pressed his lips against her own that emotion was born out of fear and desperation. When she kissed him this time, all she could think was that this was his last face and he had chosen it for her. To be with her.

If she hadn't fallen in love with the man he regenerated into yet, that gentle reminder was enough to make her fall hard and fast.

She wanted to groan and yank him back towards her when all too soon she felt him pulling away, breathing heavily. She didn't want it to be over. She didn't want to sacrifice that little bit of eternity he had just granted her with the taste of his lips.

However, as he pressed his forehead against her own and closed his eyes he reminded her of the one reason why they needed to break away.

"Amelia," the Doctor breathed.

Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. Amelia. They had to go back for Amelia. She had to break away from the man she loved because she promised she would be okay with Amy becoming a new companion.

Part of her wanted to take it back, but she knew that wasn't an option. Amy Pond was a good person and would be a wonderful companion to the Doctor and even possibly a good friend to her. She couldn't deprive either of them of that just because she wanted to selfishly be alone with the Doctor.

So, with a sigh, she marched up to the console by the Doctor's side and watched as he started up the time rotors and took them back to Leadworth.

* * *

 **A/N: I know these are annoying but if you skipped this chapter** **, the next chapter will be the Doctor returning to Amy's at the very end of the Eleventh Hour and all you missed in this one was Ariel mentioning that the Master is still affecting her, a creature dying and the Doctor (as usual) blaming himself, and their first kiss with his new face which is just above this note if you still wanna catch that.**


	6. Amy and the Tardis

**A/N:** **For starters, before any of you get your pitchforks. I love Amy. She was the first companion I actually started watching (before going back and watching everything else of course). I also love her with Rory. I think they are great together and I'm so happy their story ended with them being together. However, for reasons of this plot and story as it currently stands there will be small doses of Amy bashing as well as Amy/Rory bashing. This is just so I can write through Amy finding her place in the trio.**

 **For those of you have watched through all of Amy's episodes, you know that she kisses the Doctor fairly soon. This will be included in the story as it is canon and I have not left any canon elements out in these stories to date. However, I will need to lead up to this. I'm only warning you all before the chapter because I don't want you to read the chapter spot the moments where Ariel is jealous of Amy and come at me with knives. She is fiercely protective of the Doctor as he is for her and they hate seeing each other with other people. That's just their relationship.**

* * *

The Tardis materialized in the garden and the Doctor stepped out, extending his hand to Ariel so that she may do the same.

She had changed while they were in flight and wore her hair in pigtails as well as donning a comfortable pair of palazzo trousers after the adventures had worn her out and happily licking a cone of ice cream.

They waited and watched as the front door to the house swung open and Amy ran out in her nightie, her eyes wide when she spotted the Tardis.

She bolted up to them and the Doctor just grinned knowingly, having experienced so many companions before her being wonderstruck by the Tardis. Ariel being one of them.

"Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new Tardis. Bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in," the Doctor shrugged. "She's ready for the big stuff now."

"Oh, that hardly felt quick," Ariel sighed, leaning her head back against the Tardis door. "Still, Neil was nice," she smirked.

"Oh, we'll probably pay him a couple more visits if you want," the Doctor said.

"That'd be brilliant," Ariel grinned.

Amy ignored their bantering, beginning to grow accustomed to it, but continued to frown at the pair of them and the Tardis.

"It's you," Amy breathed. "Both of you," she said, glancing between the couple. "You came back."

"Course we came back," the Doctor shrugged. "We always come back. Something wrong with that?" He asked, turning to frown at Ariel and genuinely curious if that was a bad thing.

"Of course, not," Ariel said, shaking her head at the Doctor.

"But you kept the clothes," Amy remarked, narrowing her eyes at the suit and bow tie the Doctor donned.

"Oh, no surprise there," Ariel scoffed. "Like I said before, you'll be lucky if you can get him to change from those clothes," she chuckled.

"Well, I just saved the world," the Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes at the two women who were bound to be menaces in their travels to come. "The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me. I kept the clothes," he shrugged and Ariel just snorted and shook her head.

"And the bow tie?" Amy prompted, looking to Ariel rather than the Doctor and wearing an amused smirk as she did so.

"Don't ask me," Ariel sighed, grinning at the Doctor. "Next thing I know he'll be wearing fezzes or something."

"Oi, it's cool," the Doctor insisted, straightening his bowtie as he spoke. "Bow ties are cool. And fezzes are cool too," he pouted at Ariel.

"He's an a thousand year old alien what do you want me to say?" Ariel shrugged.

"Hold on, you're from another planet?" Amy prompted, frowning at the Doctor.

"Yeah," the Doctor said, shrugging nonchalantly at the concept.

"Okay," Amy nodded, her eyes wide as she digested the information being tossed at her.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look and an expectant smirk. They knew what was to come and while Ariel had been upset she could lose the safety of just her and the Doctor in the Tardis, she desperately wanted to see another person's reaction to the interior of the Tardis. It was always hilarious and wonderful to watch.

"So what do you think?" the Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow at the ginger.

"Of what?" Amy frowned.

"Other planets," the Doctor shrugged. "Want to check some out?" He implored.

"There are so many things just waiting to be seen by you Amelia Pond," Ariel smiled.

"What does that mean?" Amy asked desperately, frowning at the pair.

"It means," the Doctor sighed, glancing back at Ariel and raising an eyebrow, unsure of how to proceed. She simply shrugged and he took a deep breath. "Well, it means come with us," he smirked.

Amy took a step back and still watched the pair with wary eyes. "Where?" She wondered.

"Anywhere," Ariel grinned.

"Wherever you'd like," the Doctor nodded.

"All that stuff that happened," Amy breathed. "The hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero," she listed aimlessly, her eyes wide as she stared down at the ground.

"Oh, don't worry, that's just the beginning," the Doctor nodded. "There's loads more," he promised.

"So much more," Ariel agreed, sighing but wearing a dazed grin across her lips.

"Yeah, but those things, those amazing things, all that stuff," Amy sighed, seeming wonderstruck by the things they had endured together. That was until that wonder died in her eyes and she looked up at the pair with a clenched jaw and daggers in her eyes. "That was two years ago!" She yelled.

The Doctor and Ariel's hearts stopped simultaneously as their eyes grew large. They turned to each other, each with bated breath as the shock they felt encircled the duo.

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Yikes," Ariel winced.

"Whoops," the Doctor mumbled, shrinking back against the Tardis.

Amy glared at them, nodding slowly and never stealing away from the anger that she felt of being robbed two years traveling through time and space while they just popped by the moon.

"Yeah," Amy hummed.

"Oh, wait-," Ariel began, her eyes still wide as she realized how long they've kept her waiting.

"So, that's-," the Doctor nodded, following her train of thought.

"Fourteen years!" Amy cried, stamping her foot in the grass and finishing the sentence for them.

"Fourteen years since fish custard," the Doctor sighed. "Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough," he smiled.

Amy eyed the pair curiously, staring at the Tardis they both stood in front of. "When I was a kid, you both said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library," she remembered.

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, glancing back at the Tardis. "Not sure where it's got to now," he mumbled.

"It might be in the garden with Rufus," Ariel suggested with a small shrug. They had a whole garden room where they left her pet dog from back home and only walked in occasionally to feed him. He had the whole room to himself and it was likely the pool had slipped into that large room.

"It'll turn up," the Doctor nodded. He turned back to Amy and raised an eyebrow. "So, coming?" He prompted.

Amy hesitated for a moment. "No," she said and Ariel smiled. They all knew she really wanted to come, but was just saying no to try and spite them.

"You wanted to when you were a kid," the Doctor reminded her.

"I grew up," Amy replied.

"Ah, that's changeable," Ariel hummed, grinning at the Doctor who nodded along with her.

"Don't worry. I'll soon fix that," the Doctor promised. He glanced at Ariel and nodded to her and she stepped to the side so he could open the door for Amy and show her all that she could be travelling in.

Just like all the companions before her, Amy froze and grew entranced by the wondrous lights and large interior held within the small Tardis.

Ariel giggled watching her, remembering her own similar reaction to the Tardis.

Amy stepped inside slowly and cautiously but once she was in, the Doctor and Ariel followed, closing the door behind her.

"Well?" the Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow at Amy. "Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all," he shrugged.

"I'm in my nightie," Amy blanched, looking around the room and back to her own wardrobe.

Ariel snorted. "Bet you haven't heard that one," she mumbled.

The Doctor chuckled and swatted at her playfully before marching up to the Tardis console with Ariel following closely behind.

"Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe," the Doctor shrugged.

"Wait," Ariel gasped. "I haven't checked the wardrobe yet!" She exclaimed

"And possibly a swimming pool," the Doctor added with an amused nod. "So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will, where do you want to start?" the Doctor hummed, grinning at Amy.

"You are so sure that I'm coming," Amy smirked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at the pair.

"Yeah, I am," the Doctor nodded, grinning arrogantly at Amy.

"Why?" Amy wondered.

"Cause you're the Scottish girl in the English village," the Doctor said. "Funny enough I know someone just like you," he hummed. "Plus, I know well enough how it feels."

"Oh, do you?" Amy prompted.

The Doctor cast a knowing glance over at Ariel who just blushed crimson red at his words. "I know that you've been staring out that window for the past fourteen years just itching to get a chance to fly away, searching for whatever it takes to get your freedom," he said, recalling what Ariel had told him about her own life. "Plus, all these years living here, most of your life, and you've still got that accent. Yeah, you're coming," he nodded, grinning at her.

Amy seemed to realize she couldn't win this war when all she wanted to do was scream out that she'd want nothing more than to go with them. "Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

Ariel looked up and narrowed her eyes at Amy. _What was so special about tomorrow?_

"It's a time machine," the Doctor sighed, seeming a tiny bit frustrated that people ask that when he can travel anywhere in time. "I can get you back five minutes ago. Why, what's tomorrow?" He wondered, voicing the question on Ariel's mind.

"Nothing. Nothing," Amy assured them with a shrug. "Just you know, stuff."

Ariel could tell she wanted to drop the matter, so they obliged but that didn't stop the small nagging in her mind of just want Amy could be hiding.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, silently asking if they should try to find out more or simply leave it alone and all Ariel could do was shrug. She didn't know at that moment and would need to find out more before she could say whether or not they should look into what happened to Amy Pond the two years they were gone.

"Alright, then," the Doctor conceded with a sigh. "Back in time for stuff," he said.

Before he could start the time rotors, there was a soft whirring and a sonic screwdriver popped up from the console. It was slightly larger than the last and had a green light on the end rather than blue but the Doctor seemed pleased merely to have it in his hands once again.

"Oh! A new one!" the Doctor exclaimed, holding it up and grinning as he turned to show it off to Ariel who laughed and admired it silently. "Lovely. Thanks, dear," he said, patting the console affectionately and passing the sonic to Ariel for her to toy around with.

In the end, she would probably wind up using the sonic just as much as he did so it was good for them to get a grapple on the new settings immediately.

Amy watched them curiously as Ariel went to the jumpseat and sat down, messing with the sonic as she did so.

"Why me?" Amy wondered.

The Doctor turned to her with a small frown. He couldn't remember ever having received that question before.

"Why not?" the Doctor shrugged and a spark shot out from the typewriter and Ariel stared at them with wide eyes while the Doctor peered around the console and raised an amused eyebrow at her.

"Sorry," Ariel winced. "Got the wrong setting," she sighed.

The Doctor chuckled softly and turned to Amy who just frowned at Ariel. "Seriously," Amy sighed. "You have her already and yet you are still asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question," she nodded. "Why me?"

The Doctor sighed and hung his head, unwilling to reveal just while he felt it so imperative that they bring her along just yet. Not until he got more information on the cracks in the universe. He glanced over at Ariel, hoping she would offer some advice, but she hardly seemed to be paying attention. Instead, she jumped up victoriously, pumping her fists in the air and grinning that dazzling smile he loved so much.

"I got the red setting!" Ariel exclaimed and the Doctor laughed as she glanced at the Doctor and Amy with wide eyes, just remembering they were in the room. "Sorry," she mumbled awkwardly and sat back down only to sit right on her ice cream. "Oh, shit!" She cried and hopped right back up again to see a huge splotch of chocolate ice cream on her trousers. "Oh," Ariel whined. "These were my favorites."

"The Tardis should have another pair for you in the wardrobe," the Doctor offered with a shrug.

"Good idea!" Ariel grinned. "Then I can check if the pool is in there!"

She started running out but the Doctor had to quickly stop her at the great big chocolate stain still on his new jumpseat.

"Oi, ice cream!" He called.

"Shit!" Ariel said again and the Doctor laughed as she ran through with a roll of towels and started cleaning up.

The Doctor watched her with a bemused smirk while Amy just frowned. "Is it always like this?" Amy wondered.

"Sometimes," the Doctor shrugged. When Amy raised an eyebrow, he just sighed. "Alright, most of the time," the Doctor nodded. "That's partly why we need you. We go a bit mad just having each other around."

"We do not!" Ariel yelled.

"Oi, you hush and clean the jumpseat!" the Doctor snapped. "It's brand new," he moaned.

"So's the screwdriver, which do you think I was going to get more excited about?" Ariel prompted, raising a knowing eyebrow at him and he just rolled her eyes.

"Fine, you make a good point," the Doctor conceded.

"Exactly," Ariel giggled.

"So, you two are lonely," Amy frowned. "That's it? Just that?"

"Just that," the Doctor nodded. "Promise."

Ariel glanced at him over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow and he shook his head faintly so only she could notice. The brunette knew when Prisoner Zero said they hadn't used the crack to enter this world that there was more to it and until they figured it out they couldn't let Amy Pond out of their sight.

She had realized that on their way down to pick her up again. She had originally thought that the Doctor genuinely wanted to travel with another companion for a while and only realized hours afterward that there could be another reason.

"Okay," Amy nodded.

"So, are you okay, then?" the Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow. "Because this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit, you know," he shrugged.

"You're not wrong there," Ariel sighed, grabbing her roll of towels and standing up. "Stain's out, I'm gonna go get changed and look around for the pool. Don't go anywhere without me," she warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor smiled.

Ariel left and Amy stared down at the console with wide eyes.

"Amy?" the Doctor prompted. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Amy sighed. "It's just, there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought," she said awkwardly, wary of telling him exactly what she had thought to his face. "Well, I started to think that maybe you were just like a madman and some madwoman with a box," she shrugged.

"Oh, she's not, but Amy Pond, there's something you'd better understand about me, because it's important, and one day your life may depend on it," the Doctor said with wide eyes. "I am definitely a madman with a box," he grinned. He pulled the lever and set the time rotors into motion. "Ha ha!" He exclaimed. "Yeah. Goodbye Leadworth, hello everything," he beamed.

He smiled as he looked down at Amy, staring up at the time rotors in motion with wonder in her eyes. He had been highly entertained by her wariness of calling him mad. Where Ariel was concerned, he would always state the obvious. She was nowhere near mad. She couldn't be, she was the one person in the universe that kept him sane and happy as just a madman in a box. She was fun, brilliant, and wonderful but she wasn't mad. No, she was just exactly what he needed to keep up the lonely old life in the Tardis he bore.

She was his everything and once he had her, he couldn't imagine what he'd do without her.

Amy gazed around the Tardis as the Doctor kept it in flight, glancing back at the corridor and silently wondering when Ariel would return.

"Why's it a phonebox?" Amy wondered.

"Sorry what?" the Doctor prompted, hardly focusing on what she asked at the moment.

"On the outside it said police box," she reminded him. "Why have you labeled a time machine police box, why not time machine? Is that too obvious? And what is a police box? Do policemen come in boxes? How many did you get? Are you a policeman?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, knowing she could answer that question for herself but amused by it nonetheless.

"No," Amy answered immediately with a nod, knowing that question was silly. "Look at your hair," she scoffed, the very idea of a policeman wearing that hair ridiculous.

However, the Doctor took personal offense to this and his eyes grew wide as he delicately touched his hair, wondering what was wrong with it. Ariel hadn't commented on it or laughed so it couldn't be that bad, right?

"Actually, just _look at your hair_!" Amy exclaimed. She had never seen hair like his before. It was maddening.

The Doctor began looking between her and a small mirror strapped to the console, trying to measure how bad it could possibly be.

"Do you ever look at your hair and think, whoa, it just won't stop and my chin!" She cried, cringing at the very sight of it.

The Doctor wrapped his hand around his chin with large eyes. He knew it was bad, but was it that bad?

"Look, I'm wearing a bow tie," Amy moaned and the Doctor fiddled with his bow tie momentarily before sighing and turning away. No. There was nothing wrong with that. It was the one thing he had full confidence in no matter how much the women may poke fun. Bow ties are cool. "Shoot me down!" Amy cried. "Am I gabbling?" She sighed, realizing she had been talking nonstop since Ariel left.

"A bit, yeah," the Doctor mumbled, nodding to her but distracting himself with the Tardis once again and glancing at the corridor. Ariel had always been better at talking to the companions than him. Had it really been so long since she left or did it just feel like longer when he was alone with a confused and gabbling companion?

"Worse than it sounds," Amy sighed. He probably thought nothing of it but she felt like a fool rambling off a hundred questions the second she steps foot through those doors. She was sure Ariel hadn't done the same to him so he was probably exhausted of her questions and tired of her by them.

Amy found her gaze wandering to the corridor and wondering desperately when Ariel would be coming back. She could make the atmosphere calm again and stop an awkward rift from popping up between the ginger and the Doctor before they had even gone on their first trip together.

"First question," the Doctor sighed, flipping a few switches on the console before turning his attention to her. Amy's eyes simply widened, unable to speak at the fact that he was genuinely taking the time to answer all the questions she had fired at him with. It was mind numbing for her to even think back on, let alone imagine him answering.

However, the Doctor just smiled at her surprise. He knew if Ariel was there rather than him she would have waited for Amy to finish before answering all of her questions in a row. They had done the same for each other countless times. They always lent an ear to the other's rambles. It was how their relationship worked so beautifully. They never interrupted, barked at, or humiliated the other.

"Yes," Amy said, finally ready to accept the fact that she was going to be faced with all the aimless questions she had tossed at him.

"It's not really a police box," the Doctor shrugged, walking past her and getting supplies to cover up the small puffs of smoke emanating from the console as it flew while the Tardis broke in the new setting. "Which by the way is a special kind of telephone box that policemen used to use," he informed her.

"Right," Amy nodded. "Telephone box," she mumbled, turning away and feeling more questions spark inside her mind. "There's a light on the top," she remembered. "Do you need to change the bulb?!" She exclaimed.

"Amy, stop," the Doctor instructed. "Breath," he said, guiding her through some deep breaths though Amy was just itching to ask more questions.

She really wished someone would stop her.

"Why doesn't the air get out?!" Amy exclaimed, marching back in the direction of the front door. "It is made of wood," she sighed.

The Doctor sighed and turned away pressing his hands down on the console and taking a deep breath as he glared at the corridor. In his mind he silently willed Ariel back into the console room to help him or do something so he wouldn't lose his mind.

"Oh, you've got a wooden time machine," Amy hummed. "Do you feel stupid?" She wondered, shaking her head aimlessly at the Doctor. Amy winced as she realized what she asked. Ariel needed to get back and fast. "Sorry," she shook her head. "Back to the bow tie," she nodded, happy to address something Ariel herself had claimed she found ridiculous.

"It's camouflage," the Doctor shrugged. "It's disguised as a police telephone box from 1963," he said and Amy's eyes grew wide, finding herself interested in the explanation of alien technology the Doctor was about to launch into. "Every time the Tardis materializes in a new location within the first nanosecond of landing," he said, clicking his fingers to emphasize his point. "It analyzes its surroundings, calculates a twelve dimensional data map of everything within a thousand mile radius and determines which outer shell would blend in best with the environment," he giggled like a little kid talking about his favorite toy.

Amy even grinned, entranced by the wonderful explanation of the wonder of alien technology, before the Doctor's smile fell.

"And then it disguises itself as a police telephone box from 1963," the Doctor mumbled bitterly.

"Oh," Amy said, her smile falling as well. "Why?"

"It's probably a bit of a fault actually," the Doctor said. "I've been meaning to check," he mumbled, turning away so he wouldn't have to face the accusation that he had clearly never meant to check. He knew that would find its way to Ariel soon enough and he'd be dead in the water.

"What? It's a police box every time?" Amy frowned.

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed. "I suppose now you mention," he said, desperately trying to immerse himself in working with the console so she wouldn't catch his lies or find anything worthy of mentioning to Ariel.

If she mentioned any of this to Ariel he would never live it down.

"How long's it been doing that?" Amy wondered, assuming it had probably been a few weeks or maybe a couple months at most.

"Oh," the Doctor sighed, turning away and turning his head down to the console. "Not long," he winced, his voice squeaking as he spoke with the very blatant lie.

That one would be coming back to haunt him for sure.

"Okay, but what about the windows?" Amy asked, accepting his lie and moving on. "There are windows on the outside, where do they go?" She wondered.

He stood up straighter and turned to face her and she winced at the presence of the bow tie right in her face.

"Is it a cry for help?" Amy moaned.

"What?" the Doctor frowned.

"The bow tie!" Amy exclaimed.

The Doctor frowned at her and held onto his bow tie tightly. The women on his ship would never understand how wonderful the bow tie was. "Bow ties are cool," he reminded her and Amy's eyes grew wide as she realized why he thought that.

"You're an alien," Amy realized. That's why he thought bow ties were cool!

"Yeah," the Doctor grinned. "Well, in your terms," he conceded with a shrug. "In my terms, you're the alien," he smirked, flicking her forehead and making her frown at him. "In quite a few people's terms probably," he shrugged.

"What kind of alien?" Amy wondered.

"Well, you know, a nice one," the Doctor shrugged. "Definitely one of the nice ones," he nodded with a large smile.

"So, you're like a space squid," Amy frowned, poking the Doctor's suit curiously as if to see what might happen. "Or, something," she shrugged. Her eyes widened as she remembered an old film she had seem once. "Are you like a tiny little slug in a human suit?" She wondered innocently.

The Doctor frowned at her and rolled his eyes, walking away while Amy just smiled in understanding.

"Is that why you walk like that?!" Amy exclaimed, walking around the console to come face to face with him.

The Doctor just sighed and grabbed her hands, knowing this wouldn't be the action Ariel took but growing tired of her incessant questions. "Amy, this is me." He place her hands on his cheeks. "This is what I really look like."

"Well, that's fine then!" Amy exclaimed, slapping his cheeks.

"Ow!" the Doctor shrieked. "Good!" He shouted, marching back to the console.

"Wait, so if you and Ariel are from two different species, how do you- you know?" Amy wondered, gesturing to his figure with a raised eyebrow.

"You lot fall in love with different species all the time in the future," the Doctor sighed, clenching the console tightly. "She's just one of the first few of you to do it."

"First few?" Amy prompted with a frown.

"I was with someone else before her," the Doctor nodded, silently irritated that Amy thought he would've gone through nine hundred years of time and space without dating anyone but Ariel.

"Oh, another human?" Amy assumed.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and kept his attention on the console, but nodded. "Yes."

"Oh," Amy shrugged. "Okay," Amy sighed. "So I think I'm done there," she nodded.

Right at that moment, Ariel walked in with her hair in a bun, a new set of trousers and a squirming golden retriever in her arms.

"Hey!" Ariel called, grinning at the pair who both turned to her with large eyes. "What did I miss?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair.

"Ariel!" They exclaimed in unison and they both ran down to hug her making Rufus bark happily in their arms.

"Oh, okay!" Ariel laughed. "I take it I missed an awful lot," she sighed.

Amy pulled away and took the small puppy into her arms, giggling delightfully at the sight of the dog while the Doctor pulled Ariel into his arms and kissed her deeply, pouring his pure joy at her return into his kiss.

When he pulled away, Ariel gasped and stared at him with large eyes. "Okay, missed quite a bit then," she assumed and the Doctor nodded furiously, his eyes unable to communicate the irritation neverending questions he'd had to endure through their usual nonverbal communication alone.

"Why have you got a dog on a time machine?" Amy wondered, bouncing the puppy in her arms.

The Doctor groaned loudly and sulked back to the console, dropping his head on it with a clang.

Ariel chuckled and shook her head at him, unsure of what had occurred when she was gone or why a simple question had made him so tired but the display was extremely amusing.

"He was mine back in my old house," Ariel nodded. "When my Mum died, I couldn't afford to live on my own so the Doctor took me in but seeing as I didn't want to give the dog to my menace of an Uncle or up for adoption, he allowed me to bring him on board. He's called Rufus."

"Aw," Amy smirked, petting the dog gently. "What do you mean when you say the Doctor took you in?" She asked. "Is that how you two met?"

Before Ariel could answer, the Doctor moaned loudly once again. "We're going!" He yelled, unable to listen to any more questions without them actually being in flight.

Ariel giggled at him and sighed. "I can answer all your questions and give you a tour of the Tardis if you want," she offered.

"Yes!" the Doctor cried, needing some time on his own.

Amy smirked and shook her head. "That sounds like a good idea," she nodded.

"Brilliant," Ariel smiled. "You're gonna have to place Rufus down, though. He could use a good walk round the Tardis to stretch his legs," she grinned.

Amy chuckled but did as she asked and Ariel waved her through to the Tardis corridors.

"So, just so you're filled in, I met the Doctor about a year or so ago," she shrugged. "Originally, I hadn't planned on traveling with him full time. It sounded brilliant but I was still in school and my Mum was alive then."

"What about your Dad?" Amy wondered.

"He died in a car accident when I was a kid," Ariel shrugged, the lie that she often told new people falling off her tongue as it had done when she met the Doctor. Of course, he knew the truth now, but she didn't feel like telling some new person that had just began traveling with them about her dirty little secret.

"Oh," Amy winced. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Ariel shook her head. "I've had time to get through it, but never mind that. I was filling you in on how the Doctor and I met," she smiled and Amy nodded, mirroring the same grin back at her. "I actually walked into the side of his Tardis and when he popped out I became his makeshift tour guide," she chuckled and Amy snorted out a laugh. "Definitely not how most of his companions have met him," Ariel nodded. "But it was a good story to have to laugh on later."

"How have most of his companions met him?" Amy wondered with a small frown. "And how many companions has he had before?"

"Well, most of his companions meet him in the middle of a crisis. Albeit, I don't think Ian and Barbara were really in a crisis, they were just snooping," Ariel giggled, shrugging slightly at the idea. "But as far as how many companion he's had I really couldn't tell you. Not because he wants it secret but because I genuinely don't know the number. He's been traveling for hundreds of years and he's gotten lonely a lot."

"But if that's the case, then what happened to them?" Amy asked.

"He doesn't like talking about it," Ariel shook her head. "Some of them left, which is all well and good but some forgot because they needed to. Some even got left behind."

"Left behind?" Amy frowned. "He's left people behind?"

"Not by choice, trust me. But you saw how it is with Prisoner Zero. As amazing as it is, it's dangerous too. There are some people he just can't save," Ariel shrugged.

Amy took a deep breath and nodded, grateful for the young girl unabashedly answering any and all questions she had. She knew the Doctor was more than willing to do the job but the fact of the matter was, her questions risked insulting him or bringing up some old memories he didn't want to face or even just wearing him out. With Ariel, she didn't have that same risk and was able to ask as she pleased without fear of insult.

Though Amy had known the brunette her whole life, she still knew very little about her and she was happy to find that Ariel was as kind and gentle as she had imagined she would be. Amy figured she was the one that kept the Doctor calm in moments where he was just worn down and every little thing got under his skin so she took none of his reactions to heart and hoped he wouldn't take her careless questions to heart either.

"Did you start living here after you began dating him or after your Mum died?" Amy asked.

"After my Mum died," Ariel nodded. "Like I said, I had barely finished school and when my Mum was alive she was paying the bills and allowing me to come back and forth as I pleased."

"She knew?" Amy frowned.

"Oh, yeah she knew," Ariel nodded. "I was worried about telling her at first but eventually I did and she was skeptical but accepted it."

"Did you tell her after or before you and the Doctor started dating?"

"After," Ariel said. "It wasn't because of that though. The planet had been at risk and I decided she should know that I wasn't with her at the time because I was trying to save it," she explained and Amy nodded in understanding. "But yeah, after my Mum died the only other place I could go was my Uncle's since I couldn't afford to live on my own. Instead, the Doctor offered to let me stay with him and I brought Rufus and we've living here ever since," she smiled.

Amy nodded, digesting the information and searching her mind for any other questions she might have. "Was it odd dating an alien?" She blurted out.

Ariel laughed and shook her head. "The idea of it was weird at first, but I grew used to it," she nodded. "Then again my massive crush on him only helped manners," she smirked and Amy laughed. "But I think what helped it be less strange was how human he looked," she shrugged.

Amy nodded. That made sense. Seeing a human face, it's easier to fall in love than if you were face with a pure alien face.

"But what about the age thing?" Amy winced. "'Cos he is a lot older."

"Yeah," Ariel sighed. "I wrangled with that for a while. After all, he's been married, and has kids and a grandkid."

"He does?" Amy asked with large eyes and Ariel chuckled and nodded.

"Yep, lots of kids and a granddaughter named Susan. She's the sweetest, he's told me everything about her," Ariel smiled.

"How can you fall in love with a man that has grandkids?" Amy frowned.

"Well, like I said, his face helps. You see a young face you really don't care or even think about the age behind it. But it also helped knowing that he'd been with people around my age too so it wasn't like he was dating a nineteen year old for the first time at nine hundred."

"He's dated other people around your age?" Amy implored. She remembered he'd said about dating other humans but he never went into detail so she didn't bother to ask.

"Off the top of my head, Rose Tyler," Ariel nodded. "She was nineteen when she started traveling with the Doctor and she was nearing twenty when they started dating, but he was still hundreds of years older than her."

"I don't think I could do it," Amy shook her head. "That would always be like a constant reminder in the back of my mind. He's _a thousand_ ," she sighed.

Ariel giggled. "Well, that's good 'cos you don't have to date him," she said and Amy chuckled and nodded.

"Alright, I've been a bit wary of asking this of the Doctor, but if he's alien and you're human, how do you- you know?"

Ariel frowned for a moment as she tried to decipher what Amy was saying before her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, have sex?" Ariel prompted and Amy's face turned as red as her hair but she nodded nonetheless. "Oh, all the parts are the same as any human," Ariel dismissed with a wave of her hand. "It all works the same," she shrugged.

"But can you actually get pregnant?" Amy wondered.

"Probably not but that's not because of him. My Mum said that her getting pregnant with me was a one in a million chance and that I'm probably not likely to be able to carry children. Doctors confirmed that it was highly unlikely. Granted, him being an alien and having different DNA is likely to diminish that small chance to zero, but it's not a big deal," she shrugged.

"Really?" Amy frowned. "I'd be heartbroken if I found out I couldn't have kids. The bloke I'm with has always wanted them ever since he was a kid."

"Rory, right?" Ariel guessed and Amy nodded. "Well, it's not such a big deal for me since I've known basically my whole life," she shrugged. "The Doctor knows too. It's not really a problem."

"You and the Doctor seem really close," Amy remarked. "I know he said you both get lonely, but is that really why you two want me here?"

"Yeah," Ariel nodded without a flicker of hesitation. "It is. He doesn't like to mention it, but he needs more than just me and a life like this you pop in and out of every place you go and you don't really make any major connections. We both need a friend like you," she smiled.

"Well, I'm happy to oblige," Amy grinned. "Now, can you show me round this place cause I'm fairly certain I'm lost just looking at it."

Ariel giggled and nodded. "Of course," she smiled.

* * *

Half an hour later they headed back into the console room with Rufus running up behind them.

"Alright, we're done!" Amy called to the Doctor, drawing him out of his trance while working with the console.

"Ha! Ha!" the Doctor exclaimed, grinning at the pair of them. He ran to the lever to start the time rotors, giving Ariel a quick chaste kiss as he went. "Amy Pond," the Doctor sighed and pushed a lever on the console starting up the time rotors. "You've barely started," he smirked.

Amy gazed up at him with large yet awestruck eyes and Ariel grinned. She always loved the little tricks the Doctor pulled just to show off.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand before running forwards towards the doors with Amy following close behind.

"'Cause do you know what I keep in here?!" the Doctor exclaimed, skidding to a stop before the doors while Ariel's heart raced in excitement, knowing what he was about to unveil for her.

The Doctor spun around and Ariel grinned at him as he placed his back to the door while Amy bolted down the steps.

"What?" Amy wondered. She marched up to them and raised an eyebrow at Ariel, curious as to whether or not she would reveal the secret. The brunette simply shook her head no.

"Absolutely everything," the Doctor hummed, opening the doors slowly and then all at once so she could see the galaxy outside. He moved away so she could get the full view and stepped back, wrapping his arm around Ariel behind the ginger.

Ariel just smiled and shook her head as Amy stepped forward with large eyes, entranced by the constellations before her.

"You had to show off, didn't you?" Ariel sighed.

"Oh, you know me," the Doctor smiled. "Couldn't pass up the chance," he hummed.

"You're going to show her the future next, aren't you?" Ariel assumed. "They always love the future."

"Not always," the Doctor said, glancing down at her with a faint grin washed across his lips. "Some wonderfully rare ones like seeking out the past far more than the future."

Ariel beamed up at him and he pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

They looked over at Amy and both shared identical grins as they watched her get pulled away by the world of promises the Doctor bore.

"Anything that you fancy?" the Doctor prompted and Ariel snorted, slapping him playfully on the chest while he chuckled.

Amy turned to them with wide eyes. "We're in space," she gasped.

"That's what it looks like," Ariel hummed and the Doctor rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Yep," the Doctor nodded. "That's space."

"But it can't be," Amy reasoned with a small frown.

"But it is," the Doctor hummed.

"But it's like, it's like, it's like," Amy breathed, stepping forward to get a closer look at the galaxy in front of them. "Special effects!"

"Oh, that is a first," Ariel sighed.

"Like what?" The Doctor frowned, glancing at Ariel and Amy making sure he heard right.

"It's hallucinated," Amy reasoned. "It's not real."

The Doctor and Ariel shared a smirk.

"Get out," the Doctor said, nodding to the space outside with a smile.

"What?" Amy asked, her teeth clenched as she spoke making Ariel giggle. She wanted to deny that it was space but deep within her she knew and she knew that the Doctor had just asked her to take a dive out into open space.

"No, seriously," the Doctor nodded. "Get out!" He exclaimed and pushed her forward out into space.

Before she could float away, the Doctor grabbed onto her ankle and kept her floating just in front of the Tardis.

Ariel smiled up at her before turned to the Doctor. "I think I might want a go too," she said wincing, slightly.

"Ah, the more the merrier," the Doctor sighed.

Ariel grinned and jumped out of the Tardis and up into space and before she could float away the Doctor grabbed her ankle with his other hand and kept the two girls floating beside each other in front of a galaxy.

Their hair floated from their heads and around them in waves as though the air free atmosphere was blowing their hair free. It was wonderful and had the girls giggling within mere minutes, but the Doctor found himself transfixed by the pure beauty that Ariel radiated.

Her smile, her laugh, everything about her made her fall more and more in love each moment. She was his perfection and she wouldn't trade her for all the stars in the universe.

"Do you do this often?" Amy wondered, grinning at the girl and the Doctor.

"Sometimes," Ariel shrugged. "I've only ever done it once and I was petrified the whole time," she smiled.

"You made it through," the Doctor nodded. "Then again you were probably only afraid because Donna kept yelling that you were mad for even trying."

"Yeah, well," Ariel sighed. "I'm here now, and it's so beautiful," she sighed.

"It is," Amy nodded. "Definitely not special effects," she remarked and the couple laughed.

"Come on, Pond," the Doctor nodded, pulling the pair down and back inside the Tardis.

Amy laughed as she collapsed into the Doctor's arms and Ariel gave them a quick smile, her jealousy flaring up for a moment as the Doctor held her tightly in her arms and her arm remained draped over his shoulders.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, pulling her bun out of her hair and turning it into a ponytail as she marched past them to the console. She was mad, of course, for becoming jealous, but she couldn't help it. If Amy kept looking at him like he was some sort of god she knew she was going to snap, and when she or the Doctor snapped out of jealousy it was never pretty.

"Now do you believe me?" the Doctor smirked.

"Okay, your box is a spaceship," Amy laughed, her arms still around him. "It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space!" She exclaimed and the Doctor chuckled making Ariel clench her jaw and stare down at the console. The Tardis seemed to beep harshly and Ariel nodded.

"I know," Ariel sighed. "But I can't get angry with him yet. You and I both know him and he's probably too daft to see she's getting a crush on him," Ariel mumbled.

"What are we breathing?" Amy wondered.

"I've extended the air shell," the Doctor assured her with a single nod. "We're fine."

The image on the console's screen flickered and revealed a ship with a British flag painted on the side. There was a soft beeping and Ariel smirked at the Tardis, hopping up and peering at the screen.

The Tardis thought the same thing she did. Give him an adventure and he'll forget about the pretty redhead developing feelings for him.

Not that Ariel blamed her of course, she had fallen down the same rabbit hole just one year ago and she did still truly want to be friends with the ginger. However, when it came to the Doctor she didn't intend to just let him throw her to the side for the next new girl. If he wanted her to go and not just because he fell in love with Amy, she would, but until then she would fight to keep her boyfriend with all she had in her.

She didn't want to lose him.

"Doctor?" Ariel called, smirking at the screen. "I think we've got something."

The Doctor dropped his hold of Amy forward making Ariel smile at him and point to the ship on the screen.

"Now that's interesting," the Doctor hummed, zooming in on the image.

"Why does it have a British flag on it?" Ariel wondered.

"It's the twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations," he sighed.

"Wait I thought you said the earth got roasted five billion years in the future?" Ariel frowned.

"It did," the Doctor nodded. "Well, officially anyway," he shrugged. "Twenty ninth century the planet was too hot to live on. Most of those who couldn't afford their own fancy ships to hover over it left. The National Trust kept it preserved until they could settle on a proper date to give it the final farewell."

"Five billion years in the future?" Ariel deadpanned.

"What? I never said you lot were good at making decisions," the Doctor sighed.

"Fair point," Ariel shrugged.

"Nevertheless, we should go down there. Might be nice to see where humanity ends up," he smirked.

"Nice for us, you mean," Ariel chuckled. "You've been all over the future. You know where we wind up."

"Yeah, but don't tell me you're not the slightest bit curious," the Doctor smirked, knowing her all too well for her to even try and lie to him.

"I can't," Ariel grinned.

"Exactly," the Doctor laughed.

"Doctor!" Amy cried.

"Humanity," the Doctor sighed. "Migrating to the stars," he mumbled and Ariel nearly snorted at the very sight of it. Maybe, she was wrong about there being anything between the Doctor and Amy. He seemed to be tuning her out just fine.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled again.

"Isn't that amazing?" the Doctor smiled.

"Yeah, but I think Amy could use our help," Ariel snickered, nodding to the doors where Amy had disappeared.

"Oh," the Doctor said, his eyes wide and only noticing it when Ariel brought attention to it. It was touching to say the least and wiped away her concern that something might be between her Doctor and Amy. He didn't even hear Amy while he was talking to Ariel because he was so focused on her.

"Well, come on. Ariel has found us a spaceship," the Doctor smirked down at Amy who was gripping onto the floor of the Tardis, looking up at the Doctor with wide eyes.

Ariel laughed and ran up to her. She helped the ginger up her feet and back inside the Tardis before closing the doors behind her.

"Thanks," Amy sighed. "Is he always like this?" She frowned, watching as the Doctor ran back to the console.

"Usually when he finds a new adventure he gets a bit distracted," Ariel shrugged, beaming at the Doctor as he tried to get a view inside the ship.

"He doesn't seem to be distracted from you," Amy remarked, narrowing her eyes at the girl.

"No, he doesn't," Ariel smiled. "Come on, let him show us the ship he's got," she said, waving Amy along as she skipped up to the Doctor's side.

When Ariel reached his side, the Doctor took his gaze which had been fixated on the screen and seemingly immovable off of it and turned to her with a large smile. He wrapped his arms around her and she beamed up at him. The pair shared in a sweet kiss before turning to the screen once more.

Amy took a deep breath and sighed. All her memories of being jealous of Ariel and the Doctor growing up were flooding back to her. She had yearned for a love like theirs. A love where they couldn't be separate from each other for long just because of how much they loved each other. She had hoped for it with Rory but there was a bit of a disconnect. She didn't know if they connected the way Ariel and the Doctor did and she didn't know what she could do to fix it.

She guessed the only way to have a love as great as theirs was to fall in love with a time-travelling space alien and go anywhere and everywhere any day of the week. Maybe, that can only grant a love as strong as theirs she realized with a sigh.

"Pond, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked, watching her with a frown as Ariel peered around the Doctor's body, watching her with the same curious expression. "Come on," he said, waving her forward. "You'll want to see this," he promised.

Amy smirked and nodded, shuffling her feet forward as Ariel wrapped her arm tighter around the Doctor's waist and she sighed.

Tomorrow was her wedding day and she just knew it could never compare to what the Doctor and Ariel had.


	7. Below

"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home," the Doctor hummed, staring at the screen with brilliant wide eyes.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Ariel grinned.

"Every minute of it," the Doctor nodded, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Can we go out and see it?" Amy wondered.

"Course we can," the Doctor shrugged. "But first, there's a thing," the Doctor said, holding up a single warning finger to Amy.

Ariel frowned. There was a thing? There had never been a thing before.

"A thing?" Amy prompted, seeming just as confused as she felt.

"An important thing," the Doctor nodded. "In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets," he told her.

Ariel's jaw dropped to the floor. She wasn't sure if she should immediately refute his claim, stare at him in shock, or just ridicule him until he learned his lesson about lying to the new companions.

She chose all three.

"Are you joking?!" Ariel exclaimed and the Doctor turned to her with wide eyes, immediately regretting saying that in front of her. "You never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets?!"

"I'm trying to turn over a new leaf," the Doctor moaned, whining as though she were a parent canceling his plans with his new friends.

"Please," Ariel scoffed. "Five minutes after you got this face you destroyed her shed and immediately started investigating a bloody crack in her wall!" She snapped.

"That's different," the Doctor sighed.

"Okay," Ariel nodded. "Then 'bout an hour after that you stopped an all out war on the moon!" She reminded him. "You're not turning over a new leaf after nine hundred years of the same thing, you complete dumbo," she sighed.

"Alright, I-," the Doctor opened his mouth but closes it immediately, unable to refute her statement.

"Stop lying to the new companions you bloody idiot," Ariel huffed, swatting him over the head.

"But I'm your bloody idiot," the Doctor smirked and she giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

They didn't pull apart, but rather both turned back to the screen, standing as they were while Amy clenched her jaw and looked down at the console.

The Doctor narrowed her eyes at a little girl waiting by the lift. "Oo, that's interesting," he hummed.

"Worthy of a peek?" Ariel prompted, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Most definitely," he smiled.

Ariel nodded and as Amy immersed herself in what the scanner was showing her, they crept off the Tardis and onto the ship.

It was like any of those futuristic ships you always saw in movies. Cramped corridors, lots of people bustling about and smoke blowing in from random vents. In fact, as she walking through the market it felt like she was walking into one of those sci-fi movies she used to love.

Ariel beamed up at the Doctor. "This is brilliant," she smiled.

"It is, isn't it?" the Doctor grinned. "Come on," he nodded, spotting the young girl they had seen on the scanner sitting alone and crying. "There she is."

"Why's she crying alone?" Ariel frowned. "Dozens of people round here and nobody wants to comfort her? Blimey, the future is cruel."

"It's not just that," the Doctor shook his head. "There's something more going on here," he sighed. "Come on."

They walked over to the bench where the young girl sat and took a seat on either side of her. The girl sniffled and glanced at the couple with a small frown. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Ah, we're some concerned people who wanted to make sure you're alright," Ariel shrugged.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor implored.

The young girl glanced around nervously and wiped her eyes before sitting up straighter and nodding. "I am," she promised.

"Really?" Ariel frowned. "Because it doesn't look like it," she remarked.

"It's okay," the Doctor nodded. "You can tell us." He glanced over at where the scanner had been looking in and frowned at the Tardis. He waved Amy to them on the scanner, gesturing for her to come out with them.

The Doctor turned to Ariel and raised an eyebrow.

"Wait," Ariel shook her head. "One minute," she said to the girl. She stood up and pulled the Doctor to the side. She glanced around warily, ensuring nobody was listening to them.

"Doctor, something's off about this ship," Ariel mumbled. "I can't explain it but there's this feeling that should be there but isn't."

"You feel it too," the Doctor nodded. "I felt it when we first stepped off the Tardis. I dunno what it could be."

"Well, it feels like something is missing, is it to do with the ship or the people?" She wondered.

The Doctor glanced around with a small frown, his eyes darting across the ship as though he were scanning through the pages in a book. Eventually, he inhaled sharply and turned back to Ariel with large eyes.

"What is it?" Ariel breathed. "What's wrong?"

"The engines," the Doctor murmured.

"What?" Ariel prompted.

"Come on, we have to get Pond," the Doctor said, grabbing her hand and pulling her away without further elaborating.

Ariel nodded and though she wanted to ask more, she knew it was best to leave it for the moment and allow the Doctor to follow his train of thought.

"Welcome to London Market," a voice over the intercoms of the ship said. "You are being monitored," the voice informed them as Amy stepped out of the Tardis.

"I'm in the future," Amy gasped, looking around the ship with large eyes. "Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries," she frowned.

"Oh, lovely," the Doctor said sarcastically. "You're a cheery one."

"Right buzzkill, you are," Ariel said bluntly.

"Never mind dead," the Doctor said, shaking his head at the woman. "Look at this place, isn't it wrong?" He prompted, imploring Amy to see what he and Ariel had seen.

"What's wrong?" Amy wondered, shaking her head aimlessly.

"Come on, use your eyes," the Doctor insisted. "Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?" He asked.

"Is it the bicycles?" Amy asked, spinning to watch a man as he rode away on a rather large bicycle. "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles," she remarked.

"Says the girl in the nightie," the Doctor retorted and Ariel snorted.

"Oh my God, I'm in my nightie," Amy gasped, her eyes wide as she just remembered she hadn't changed from her nightie.

Ariel giggled. "It's alright. It's the twenty-ninth century people hardly care what you look like at this point," she shrugged.

"She's right," the Doctor nodded. "Now, come on, look around you. Actually look," the Doctor instructed, placing a hand on Amy's shoulder and pointing around the ship.

"London Market is a crime-free zone," the voice on the intercoms said.

Ariel turned to the intercom and narrowed her eyes at it. The voice seemed to be following along with their actions rather than the rest of the ship. Specifically, them. She took a deep breath and glanced back at the Doctor as he guided Amy through their way of thinking. She passed one last frown at the intercom before turning away and choosing to remember the information for later.

"Life on a giant starship," the Doctor sighed. "Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me," he said.

The Doctor walked up to a table with two people laying chess and grabbed one of their glasses of water. Ariel's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing and hopped over to his side as he placed the water down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" The owner of the water asked and the Doctor ignored him, placing the water on the ground and narrowing his eyes at it.

The water was completely still.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look like two detectives embarking on a new case before the Doctor quickly returned the water to its owner.

"Sorry," the Doctor apologized. "Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish," he said in a hushed tone as though it were a secret the men should keep close to their chests and Ariel snickered. The Doctor turned back to the woman and wrapped an arm around Ariel's shoulders with a sigh. "Where was I?" He asked.

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy wondered and Ariel sighed softly, she had been hoping the ginger would pick up on it when they spotted the water was entirely still.

"Don't know," the Doctor shrugged. "I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Ariel usually has to do it for me," he smirked. "Now, police state. Do you see it yet?" He prompted, pressing a finger to his lips and pointing at their surroundings.

"Where?" Amy breathed, still unsure of what they were looking for.

Ariel smirked when she spotted the little girl from earlier still crying on her own despite the dozens of people passing her each second.

"There," Ariel murmured, pointing to the young girl cautiously.

Amy frowned at the pair. Why were they so interested in this little girl? On earth there were dozens of girls that cried on their own, but they weren't always worthy of an investigation.

"One little girl crying," Amy shrugged. "So?" She prompted.

"Crying silently," the Doctor nodded. "I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that," he shrugged.

"Which is cause for concern," Ariel said, nodding along with the Doctor. "She's truly upset and yet with this flooded market nobody is doing anything," she sighed.

"Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets," the Doctor whispered. "They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state," he reminded Amy with a firm nod.

The Doctor walked over to the young girl momentarily and bumped into her leaving Ariel and Amy alone.

"What's he doing?" Amy frowned.

"Trying to find out more about her," Ariel shrugged.

"How's he gonna do that?" Amy wondered. "He just bumped into her, oh, and he did it again," Amy moaned.

"Yeah, he's trying to get her ID," Ariel nodded. "In the future everything has got a dozen locks and seals over it. Everything is monitored and everything is protected including the people. Everyone has an ID identifying themselves," she said.

"How do you know this?" Amy frowned.

"You learn a lot traveling with the Doctor," Ariel shrugged. "I prefer going into the past but I still know the basics of the future. The Doctor taught me how to get by in most places on my own if we ever get seperated."

"But you two are never separate," Amy remarked. "You're joined at the hip."

"Only when we can be," Ariel smiled. "He's the only person I have left. The only family I still have. He's the only person who knows absolutely everything about me and I know everything about him."

"What, everything?" Amy prompted.

"Yeah," Ariel nodded.

"So, you know his name?" Amy assumed.

Ariel's eyes widened and before she could respond the Doctor walked back up to them and the little girl disappeared into the lift.

"Where'd she go?" Amy asked, peering around to try and spot the little girl.

"Deck two oh seven. Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner," the Doctor informed them and Ariel nodded along while Amy just frowned at him curiously. "Oh, er, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her," he said, pulling out a colorful wallet and passing it to Ariel. "Took me four goes," he moaned and Ariel snickered. "Ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere," he said, nodding to some booths behind them that looked more like puppets than anything they should be worried about.

"Ask her what they are," Ariel nodded, opening the wallet and trying to get as much information as possible. "Got it."

"But they're just things," Amy shrugged, unsure of why the Doctor was suddenly so interested in them.

"They're clean," the Doctor said with large eyes. "Everything else here is all battered and filthy. Look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Look. Ask Mandy, why are people scared of the things in the booths?" the Doctor instructed. "And bring Amy along," he told her.

"Hold on, what?" Ariel asked, her eyes now wide.

"No, what?" Amy frowned. "I can't do this."

"You'll be brilliant," the Doctor assured her with a quick smile and nod. "And she'll be able to help you," he told Ariel, a glint of warning in his eyes. He knew about her jealousy, he always did and he knew that if she got jealous of someone who was a permanent companion it could become dangerous. He needed to put out the fire before it started.

Ariel sighed softly and hung her head, nodding to the Doctor and accepting his warning.

"No, hang on," Amy muttered. "What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!" She cried, pulling at her nightie furiously.

"It's this or Leadworth," the Doctor reminded her. "What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" He hummed and Ariel snorted, already knowing what that decision would be.

Amy glared at the pair of them and snatched the wallet from Ariel's hands. "Let me see that," she grumbled .

"Ha ha, gotcha," the Doctor smirked. "Meet me back here in half an hour," he instructed, heading away in the direction opposite of them.

"Hold on, where are you going?" Ariel frowned.

"What are you going to do?" Amy asked.

"What I always do," the Doctor shrugged. "Stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, not very good at that one!" Ariel called.

"Badly," he added with a nod.

Ariel snorted and rolled her eyes at the Doctor. He smirked and ran forward, placing a quick but deep kiss on her lips.

When he pulled away, Ariel smiled softly at him while he cupped her cheek. "Don't get yourself killed," Ariel breathed.

"I could say the same to you," the Doctor nodded.

"So is this how it works, Doctor?" Amy frowned. "You two never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?" She hummed.

The Doctor hesitated and narrowed his eyes at Amy. "Yes," he mumbled, nodding quickly before kissing Ariel once more and bolting off in the opposite direction.

Ariel watched him leave and squeezed her eyes shut, sighing softly. She hated when they went on adventures where they had to split up in order to get things done. There were many things wrong with the ship they stood on and even Ariel hadn't been able to catch all of it while the Doctor did. Splitting up was the only way to uncover all of the secrets he had found.

"You really love him don't you?" Amy mumbled.

"More than anything," Ariel sighed. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, watching the place the Doctor had left. She turned to the left and opened up the wallet he had given them. "Come on, we have to find Mandy," she said. She grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her into the lift by her side.

"What are we even going to say to her when we find her?" Amy wondered. "How do you two usually do this?"

"We've got to find her first," Ariel shrugged, getting the lift to take them to deck 207. "Usually I figure out what to say when we get there."

"So, that's it?" Amy shrugged. "We're just winging it?"

"Welcome to traveling with the Doctor," Ariel smirked as the lift whirred and started moving them to deck 207.

Once the doors opened Ariel frowned at the steam and hissing machines on the deck. It was covered in dirt and just around the corner there was another one of those things in a booth.

Ariel winced at the very sight of it. "Y'know, if we're being honest here I would just be creeped out by the very sight of those things."

"I dunno," Amy shrugged, walking up to the puppet like machine. "They sort of remind me of those little fortune tellers they used to have in booths that would eat up all your quid."

"I hated those things," Ariel chuckled, still meeting the booth with uneasy eyes. "I never did like someone getting into my head."

"I suppose that's fair," Amy nodded. "On a completely different note, do you know where the hell we're supposed to go?" She asked, frowning at the deserted deck.

Ariel glanced around, silently hoping for some sign to pop out and guide them in the direction they needed to go. When none appeared, she sighed and nodded to the right of the puppet in the booth where there was a dimly lit corridor.

"That's as good a start as any," Ariel shrugged.

Amy turned to frown at the corridor for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

They started marching down the corridor only to have a voice behind them bring them both to a skidding stop.

"You're following me," Mandy accused and they both turned with large eyes to see her waiting for them patiently behind some barrels. "I saw you watching me at the marketplace."

Amy and Ariel glanced at each other with wide eyes, both unsure of how to proceed when the girl clearly knew they were trying to track her down.

"You dropped this," Amy said, handing the wallet to the young girl.

"Yeah, when your friend kept bumping into me," Mandy snapped, snatching the wallet out of Amy's hands and marching forward.

"Well, in his defense we just wanted to help," Ariel shrugged, the two women following the young girl as she walked onward.

"You're not supposed to help," Mandy sighed. "You were supposed to leave me be."

"Oh, if you think he's not gonna help just 'cos he's not 'supposed' to you've got another thing comin', love," Ariel chuckled.

All of a sudden, Mandy skidded to a stop and stared at a striped workman's hut with large eyes. Outside the hut were all sorts of barrier and 'keep out' signs guarding it but an open path for anyone to walk through if they wanted. It was funny, one would think if they really wanted to keep people out they would put more effort in than just tossing a few 'keep out' signs at it.

"What's that?" Amy frowned.

"There's a hole," Mandy breathed. "We have to go back." Mandy started turning to make her way back from whence she came while the two women continued stepping toward the hole curiously.

"A what?" Amy prompted. "A hole?" She muttered.

"Why would they put a tent around a hole?" Ariel wondered, continuing to move towards it with Amy.

"Are you two stupid?" Mandy frowned. "There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way. There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps. What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't mind us," Ariel smirked, spinning around to Mandy with a large grin painted across her lips. "Never could resist a keep out sign," she shrugged. She closed the gate so Mandy couldn't get through before kneeling down beside Amy who picked up a padlock on the tent with a curious frown.

"What's through there?" Amy wondered. "What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?" She guessed.

"Nobody knows," Mandy shook her head. "We're not supposed to talk about it."

Amy and Ariel shared a look of sheer exasperation. If either of them had been told not to ask about something they would just raise more questions. That was basic human instinct.

"About what?" Amy prompted.

"Below," Mandy mumbled, her voice cracking anxiously as she spoke.

"Oh, so something is below," Ariel hummed, a small grin tugging at her lips as she grew a bit more antsy about uncovering the secrets of the ship.

"And because you're not supposed to, you don't?" Amy frowned at the girl.

Ariel smirked at her and pulled a pin out of her hair, handing it to the ginger.

"Ha ha!" Amy exclaimed, immediately using the pin to pick at the padlock. "Watch and learn," she mumbled.

"You sound Scottish," Mandy observed.

"I am Scottish!" Amy exclaimed and Ariel laughed at her indignant tone. "What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere," she mumbled.

"No," Mandy shook her head. "They wanted their own ship."

Ariel snorted and Amy simply grinned. At last Scotland got the independence they had been itching at for centuries.

"Good for them," Amy hummed.

"The future isn't so different after all," Ariel remarked.

"Nothing changes," Amy chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"So how did you get here?" Mandy wondered. "Did you bring her?" She asked Ariel and Ariel shrugged.

"Sort of," Ariel mumbled.

"We're just passing through," Amy said. "With a guy."

"Your boyfriend?" Mandy guessed.

" _My_ boyfriend," Ariel corrected quickly while Amy stopped working at the lock, her smile falling.

"Oh," Amy breathed.

"What?" Mandy frowned.

"Nothing," Amy sighed, shaking her head and resuming work on the lock. "It's just, I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind," she mumbled.

Ariel's eyes grew large. She was getting married? She silently cursed herself and squeezed her eyes shut. Of course, she wasn't hitting on the Doctor. She'd even mentioned still having a boyfriend. She had no idea why she had just automatically assumed the first pretty young companion the Doctor traveled with would start flirting with him but she did no that she was entirely too jealous for her own good.

However, Amy's eyes widened and she glanced at Ariel for an entirely different reason. "You can't tell the Doctor," Amy breathed.

Ariel frowned. "I don't keep secrets from the Doctor," she said, shaking her head.

"Can you please just keep this one?" Amy begged. "I don't want him dragging me back just yet."

"He wouldn't drag you back, but if you really don't want anyone else to know you're getting married I won't tell. But, Amy, you're gonna have to tell him eventually," Ariel warned. "If you don't, I will."

"I know," Amy sighed. "I just have no idea how to tell him that I just really want to run away from getting married right now," she mumbled.

"You're getting married?" Mandy frowned.

"Yeah, shut up, married," Amy snapped. "Really, actually married. Almost definitely," she sighed.

"Couldn't this just be cold feet?" Ariel offered, seeing how terrified Amy was at the idea of marrying Rory.

"I dunno," Amy mumbled. "I just don't want to think about it," she said and Ariel nodded, understanding that she probably just needs more time to process the fact that she would be with Rory for the rest of her life.

"When is the wedding?" Mandy asked and Ariel snorted, that was an odd topic.

"Well, it's kind of weird," Amy sighed, shrugging slightly. "A long time ago tomorrow morning. I wonder what I did," she mumbled. Her eyes widened when the lock clicked open and she grinned. "Hey, hey. Result!" She exclaimed. "Coming?" She prompted Mandy, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" Mandy snapped almost immediately.

"Suit yourself," Amy shrugged then turned to smirk at Ariel. "Ready?"

"'Course I am," Ariel grinned. "Come on," she said, nodding to the tent. The two women start crawling into the tent and completely missed when the face of the once smiling puppet turned into a fearsome scowl with glowing red eyes.

"Stop!" Mandy cried, catching the face of the puppet and growing worried about the fate of the two women. "You mustn't do that!"

The two women ignored her and crawled even further into the tent.

"Eugh, the least they could do was leave the lights on," Ariel murmured, narrowing her eyes and trying to see inside the barely lit tent.

"Wait, here I think this is some sort of futuristic torch," Amy sighed, her hand hitting something as she crawled forward. "If only I could figure out how to get it on," she mumbled.

"Here, let me see," Ariel said, holding out her hand for the torch. Amy passed it to her and she felt around the torch for some button to pressed or something to switch it on. "Hold on, I think it's wind up," she frowned, finding a crank and beginning to spin it.

"Not very futuristic," Amy mumbled, disappointed by the lack of innovative tech present in the torch.

"I know right?" Ariel chuckled. "Here, I think I've got it," she sighed as the tent began to light up.

There was a hole in the road, there was no doubt about that. But Ariel uncovered just why they had to build a whole tent around the hole. There was some sort of tentacle or tail poking through. It looked like the tail of a scorpion, but purple betraying its alien nature.

"Oh, my God," Amy gasped.

"I know," Ariel nodded, stepping closer to get a better look at the creature. "How is this sticking out in the ship?" She wondered.

"That's weird," Amy agreed, shaking her head with a small frown.

"No doubt about that," Ariel hummed. "It looks like it must be coming from-."

Before she could finish her thought, the tail lifted itself up and fell down hard near them making Ariel jump back into Amy's arms.

"Are you alright?!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yeah, it just took me by-," Ariel breathed. The tail started swinging and launched itself at them again.

Amy cried out and they both jumped back as the tail started trying to stab at them several times. They fell to the ground and scooted out with large eyes, side by side, never daring to waver their gazes from the tail.

"What the hell," Ariel breathed. "It just started attacking, it-!"

"Ariel," Amy muttered, tapping the girl's hand anxiously. "We've got trouble."

Ariel looked up and there were several men baring stoic faces in dark hoods, glaring down at them.

"Oh," Ariel winced. Before she could even try to come up with a clever excuse as to why they were inside the tent as the Doctor would have done, two of the men stuck their fists in Amy and Ariel's faces.

A black ring on that fist lifted up and sprayed them with a clear gas that made the world grow hazy as it slowly faded to black.

* * *

Ariel woke up with a sharp gasp and frowned at her surroundings. She was in a chair surrounded by computer screens and Amy was nowhere in sight.

"What the hell happened?" Ariel groaned, rubbing her forehead and wincing against the slight twinge of pain she felt.

"Welcome to voting cubicle three thirty C," the computer announced and Ariel glanced around the small room with a frown. "Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it. The United Kingdom recognises the right to know of all its citizens. A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll. Name, Ariel Carol Parsons. Age, thirteen hundred and four. Marital status, married.

"Sorry, what?" Ariel said with wide eyes. "Who am I married to?"

"Verifying," the computer announced. Ariel sat up, staring at the screen and barely even blinking. "Unknown."

"Oh, fat lot of good that does me," Ariel moaned, slumping back in her seat.

The screen flickered and a strange man appeared, though his face appeared kind Ariel knew he was probably anything but.

Ariel sat up once again and narrowed her eyes at the man. "You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest or forget," he said and she glanced down at the buttons just beside her fingertips with a small frown. "If you choose to protest, understand this. If just one percent of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation, and we hope that you will, then press the Forget button. All the information I'm about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls," the man sighed.

The presentation was fast and left Ariel reeling. When it was finished, she sat back with large eyes and stared down at the two buttons with a scowl. She knew what she had to do.

Without even thinking, she slammed her hand down hard on 'protest'.

Beneath her feet she heard a loud whirring and she jumped up with wide eyes. The floor was opening up to some red and raging beast below.

"Oh, bloody hell," Ariel moaned. She turned to the door and tried to get it open, slamming her hands down on it furiously and trying to pry it open but it was sealed shut. "Shit!" Ariel snapped.

She needed to tell the Doctor what was beneath the ship. She needed to let him know what they were doing to the starwhale. "Doctor!" Ariel cried. "Doctor!" She yelled, but there was nothing.

The floor continued opening wider and wider and Ariel sighed. She was going to have to go in. There was no doubt in her mind about that. No wonder nothing had been done. If they kept feeding the people who protested to the starwhale's imprisonment they wouldn't be able to do anything.

Ariel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Find me, Doctor," she breathed.

She gulped harshly as she opened her eyes and peered at the floor opening beneath her feet.

"Geronimo!" Ariel cried before jumping up and diving down straight into the belly of the beast.

* * *

Meanwhile, just a few rooms away, the Doctor was using his sonic screwdriver to scan a device on the ceiling in Amy's room. She had chosen the other option available for citizens. She had chosen to forget.

"Yeah, your basic memory wipe job," the Doctor sighed, peering at the readings on his sonic as he stepped down from the chair. "Must have erased about twenty minutes," he shrugged.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy wondered, frowning at the doctor and Mandy who was standing by in the open doorway.

"Because everyone does," Mandy shrugged. "Everyone chooses the Forget button."

"Everyone, huh?" the Doctor mumbled, a small smirk playing at his lips as he thought of the one person on the ship who would definitely not choose to forget whatever the video had played.

"Yeah," Mandy frowned. "Who wouldn't?"

"I can think of one person," the Doctor nodded, but his smile fell as he realized what that could mean for the girl's fate. He doubted they'd let her choose to forget so easily. "We need to get to Ariel's voting booth."

"Why?" Amy asked. "What's happened?"

"If she didn't choose to forget, which I'm sure she didn't, she chose to protest and I'm willing to bet they've done something to her because of it," the Doctor said, his jaw clenched at the very idea.

Mandy paled. "If she chose to forget, she's gone below," she mumbled.

"Below?" the Doctor said, his eyes wide. "What do you mean below? Where the hell is she?!" His eyes blazing as he marched over to Mandy and towered over her small figure menacingly.

"You can only go below if you choose to protest," Mandy shrugged, shying away from the Doctor's rage.

"Then guess where we're going," the Doctor hummed, the decision hardly even asking for a moment of pause. It was instinctual. Whenever Ariel was in trouble, he would be there.

"Doctor, are you sure this is a good idea?" Amy said, her eyes wide as she grabbed his arm to stop him before he could sonic the buttons on the computer.

"The woman I love is trapped below because she chose to protest and tried to get whatever is in these videos out to the public and they're going to kill her for it," the Doctor said, glaring at Amy. "There's no decision here," he sighed, yanking his arm out of Amy's grasp and marching over to the buttons.

"But we don't even know if she chose protest," Amy moaned. "She could've chosen to forget like me," she reasoned.

The Doctor looked at Amy with narrowed eyes. "I know everything about Ariel Parsons. I know her favorite foods, I know what she dreams about, I know that she loves a cup of hot cocoa in the morning purely because it irritated her mother. I know it all, and I know that she would never allow someone to take her memories," he smiled. "Now, hold tight," he instructed, pointing his sonic at the computer. "We're bringing down the government."

The Doctor slammed his hand down on the protest button. The door slammed shut and the floor began to open up as it had done for Ariel just moments before.

"Say wheeee!" The Doctor exclaimed, grinning at Amy.

"Argh!" Amy cried and within a few seconds they were dropped down into the chute.


	8. The Star Whale

Ariel screamed as she slid through the tube before landing face down in some sort of watery rubbish dump.

She placed her hands on the floor and looked up with a scowl etched into her face. Of all the ways to land it was safe to say she found the worst.

"Eugh, where am I?" Ariel grumbled. There weren't many lights to offer some clues as to where she landed, but she could guess fairly easily.

There were scraps of organic food surrounding her and a red or pinkish interior. Wherever she was, it was somewhere in the starwhale.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ariel exclaimed, standing up and stamping her foot on the starwhale.

The starwhale groaned loudly and Ariel's heart stopped in her chest. "I'm sorry," she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Don't digest, please don't digest," she begged.

The starwhale fell silent and she sighed softly in relief. She glanced around at her surroundings and groaned. She had to find a way out and fast before that creature ate her and she never found a way out.

She glanced up at the tube she had come out of with a small frown. "Is that how they're feeding you?" Ariel breathed. "Through some metal tubes prodding into your body?" She winced. "That's morbid," she remarked. "What's wrong with your-," she turned and saw a wall of teeth clenched shut. "Ah, so the normal entrance is closed for business," she hummed.

Ariel marched through the mush and slosh of food they had attempted to feed the creature and tried to peer around for a way out. She knew right away she couldn't climb back through the tube she had entered in. Not only could she not reach it, but she would probably slide back down the tube due to the liquid drenching her form, and the door would be sealed shut if she even managed to do it.

It would be a handy moment for a sonic screwdriver.

She groaned and took one last look at the teeth. If they had wired this poor creature up to everything like some sort of machine then maybe the mouth would lead into some sort of overflow pipe.

As she started marching forward toward the teeth, the mouth vibrated and her eyes grew wide.

"Oh, no, no, no, please do not swallow!" Ariel cried, running up to the teeth and placing her hand on them. "Please, I can help you just don't swallow me!" She yelled.

The vibrating stopped and she let a heavy sigh of relief, falling to her knees on the tongue.

All of a sudden, there was a loud whooshing sound and screams coming from the tube she had fallen into the mouth through.

Ariel's eyes widened and she got up, running to the tube just in time to have someone fall on her and push her backwards.

Ariel looked and spotted the face of the Doctor grinning down at her. "Doctor?!" She exclaimed.

"Ariel!" the Doctor laughed. He jumped up and helped Ariel to her feet before pulling her into a tight hug. "I knew you'd be down here!"

"But how?" Ariel wondered. "And where's Amy?"

Right after she asked that, a screaming woman flew through the tube and landed inside the mouth.

"Okay, that answers that," Ariel shrugged. The Doctor laughed and pulled her into another hug.

"I knew you wouldn't forget," the Doctor mumbled. "You don't want anyone taking away your memories."

"Plus, what they're doing is ridiculous," Ariel nodded. "They think they're protecting their people but they're really just slowly killing this magnificent creature," she sighed.

"What do you mean?" Amy frowned.

"Wait, you don't remember?" Ariel prompted, shaking her head. "You chose to forget?"

Amy's cheeks blossomed pink but she nodded. "I forgot."

"Never mind that," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "What are they doing?"

Before Ariel could answer, the mouth vibrated and rocked them all backwards. There was a loud groaning and Ariel's eyes widened.

"As much as I'd love to go into a lengthy explanation about what's really going on here, we need to get out _now_ ," Ariel insisted.

"Why?" Amy wondered. "Where are we?" She asked, glancing around the mouth curiously.

The Doctor glanced at Ariel with an inquisitive frown, knowing her fear was born out of something they needed to address immediately. He glanced around the area and his eyes widened when he spotted the organic food discarded across the area and pressed his foot down to feel the spongy floor.

He turned to Ariel and raised an eyebrow and she nodded furiously. He inhaled sharply and pulled out his sonic, starting to scan the area and hopefully get them out before they were eaten.

"The floor's all squidgy," Amy remarked, stamping her foot on the floor. "Like a water bed."

The Doctor looked at Ariel with wide eyes and she nodded to him to explain.

"Why do I have to do it?" the Doctor frowned, a small but adorable pout etching its way onto his lips.

"I always do the explaining!" Ariel exclaimed.

"I answered all her questions about the Tardis," the Doctor reminded her.

"Well, you can tell her where we are as well," Ariel smirked. "I just spend the last ten minutes walking around in this thing with no way out. Please, just give me this one."

The Doctor watched her for a moment before sighing and nodding making Ariel grin.

"I love you," she smiled.

"Yeah, course you do," the Doctor groaned and Ariel laughed.

"The floor is sort of rubbery," Amy said, having ignored them and fallen to her hands and knees so she could feel the tongue. Ariel wanted to vomit at the very sight. "Feel it. Wet and slimy."

"Er, it's not a floor, it's a," the Doctor winced and glanced back at Ariel. "So," he sighed.

"Go on," Ariel nodded. "You can do it."

"It's a what?" Amy frowned.

"The next word is kind of a scary word," the Doctor warned. "You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go omm," he instructed.

Amy glanced at Ariel with a frown, unsure if he was genuinely being serious and wanted her to say omm.

Ariel nodded. "Omm," she said, waving Amy to follow along.

"Omm," Amy hummed, unsure of where this was getting them.

"It's a tongue," the Doctor sighed.

"A tongue?" Amy repeated, silently hoping she hadn't heard the Doctor correctly.

"A tongue!" the Doctor exclaimed, a grin slapped across his face as the fascination took over his worry and concern. "A great big tongue!"

Ariel giggled at the sight of the Doctor dancing across the tongue. She always loved watching his worry wash away as he grew more interested than fearful of the situation at hand.

"This is a mouth," Amy gasped, glancing at Ariel who only nodded confirming her fears. "This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, and it's minging," Ariel winced, scrunching up her nose in a way that made the Doctor smile at the adorable little action.

"Yes, yes, yes," the Doctor nodded. "But on the plus side, roomy," he shrugged.

Ariel snorted, shaking her head at the Doctor. He was wonderful and somehow made all the fear she'd had when she first dropped down vanish from her mind. Though all that fear seemed to drop straight into Amy's mind.

"How do we get out?" Amy asked desperately.

"How big is this beastie?" the Doctor wondered, turning to Ariel and momentarily disregarding Amy's concern.

"'Bout as big as the ship," Ariel shrugged.

"It's gorgeous," the Doctor sighed. "Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach," he smiled.

As if in response to his wishes, the mouth vibrated and lurched the three of them again. Ariel's smile fell and she stared at the Doctor with large eyes.

"Though not right now," the Doctor mumbled.

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy repeated.

"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so I assume the normal entrance is closed for business?" the Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow at Ariel.

"I already tried that," Ariel nodded, waving towards the clenched teeth behind them. "No dice," she shrugged.

"We could try again, though," Amy said. She ran forward, sloshing her way through the mouth to the row of teeth.

"No, stop, don't move," the Doctor instructed. He held up a hand and Amy's eyes grew wide as the mouth vibrated again.

"The vibrations are getting shorter in between," Ariel breathed. "But we've still got time," she shrugged.

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "It's too late. It's already started."

"Of all the ways we've counted that we could be killed I'm fairly certain this is the worst," Ariel winced.

"No, hold on, what's started?" Amy frowned.

"Swallow reflex," the Doctor said, his voice cracking as he spoke and looked back in the direction of where the throat would be.

"There must be something we can do," Ariel insisted, marching up to the Doctor with large eyes.

"No, wait, hold on," the Doctor nodded. He pulled out his sonic and began pointing it at the walls of the mouth.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors!" the Doctor announced.

"Hold on, I remember this one from bio," Ariel frowned, grabbing the Doctor's hand tightly as the vibrations continued. "Isn't that the mouth's-?"

"Eject button," the Doctor nodded. "Yep!"

"How does a mouth have an eject button?" Amy asked, frowning at the pair.

"Eugh, think about it!" Ariel winced, sincerely wishing she hadn't asked.

All of a sudden, a wave of vomit appeared from the dark area where the throat should lead.

"Oh, God," Ariel moaned.

"Right, then," the Doctor sighed, taking a moment to straighten his bow tie. "This isn't going to be big on dignity. Geronimo!" He cried as Amy and Ariel simply screamed in the face of the vomit.

* * *

Ariel woke up coughing and gasping as the Doctor gently brushed the drenched brown hair out of her face.

"You're alright," the Doctor assured her. "You're alright. I turned your back to the blast last minute. No concussion, no broken bones, none of the vomit in your face," the Doctor nodded.

Ariel frowned and glanced at the ginger still unconscious by her side. "What about Amy?" She prompted.

"Ah, I only had the chance to turn you away," the Doctor winced. "She's got no concussion or broken bones either but she'll be out for a bit more," he shrugged before standing up and making his way to the door that lead into the small pipe like area they were in.

"Where are we?" Ariel frowned.

"Overflow pipe. Probably designed for cases like this when the creature didn't eat the people forced into its mouth," the Doctor shrugged before beginning to sonic the door.

Ariel nodded and turned, spotting the two smiling puppets in booths on the other side of the pipe and sighing.

"Doctor, I need to talk to you about Amy actually," Ariel frowned.

"Yes, what is it?" He prompted, far too immersed in his actions to look up at her which she was used to. He looked up if he deemed it serious. They were in a life or death situation and she wasn't the type of person to demand that he look up when she talked to him.

"I'm sorry," Ariel sighed.

The Doctor looked up at her with wide eyes and a small frown. "What for?" He wondered.

"I know that you know I was acting pretty jealous but I was just scared. I saw you laughing with Amy and I just thought you were going to trade me in for her and I was terrified. You're the only family I have left and I didn't want to lose you," Ariel admitted.

"Ariel," the Doctor sighed, smiling softly at her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. When he pulled away he cupped her cheeks and grinned at her. "I would never want to trade you in. You're all I have left," the Doctor shrugged.

"You say that like losing me would leave you alone forever," Ariel frowned.

"Wouldn't it?" the Doctor sighed, turning back to the door as his smile fell.

Ariel sighed softly as she remembered Sarah Jane's words. _You act like such a lonely man and yet you've got the biggest family on Earth._ Sarah was wrong. She knew that now. She was the only family he had left because that day when everyone else went home to their relatives or friends, she was the only one left. She was the only one who stood by day and night and never left his side unless he asked her to. If she left he truly would be alone.

Nine hundred years of time and space and the only person the Doctor had was himself.

All they had was each other and one day Ariel would have to leave him. Not because she wanted to but because she bore the illness of mortality. She was destined to lead a short life and leave the Doctor one day and he would be on his own again.

She sighed softly and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her forehead against his back. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm not gonna leave you."

The Doctor smiled softly and turned in her arms. He cupped her cheeks and gazed into her stormy grey eyes. "And I'll never give you up," he promised.

He pressed his lips against hers, gently and uncaring of the alien vomit that coated both of their bodies making her smile.

As he pulled away, a small groan alerted them to Amy Pond waking up.

Ariel smiled at the Doctor and gave him a quick nod, telling him she would handle it while he tried to get the door open. He nodded in return and she helped Amy to her feet.

"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick," the Doctor informed her.

"Where are we?" Amy asked, clutching her head and wincing.

"The Doctor said it must be some sort of overflow pipe," Ariel shrugged. "For when the creature gets sick."

Amy nodded absentmindedly, glancing around and taking in her surroundings. She winced and crinkled her nose.

"Oh, God," Amy breathed. "It stinks," she said, waving her hand in front of her nose to get the smell away.

Ariel snorted and cast an amused glance at the Doctor who simply smiled.

"Er, Amy?" Ariel prompted. "That's not the pipe," she said, fighting back laughter.

They all stunk there was no doubt about it.

"Oh," Amy winced, casting a more than displeased glance at her attire. "Can we get out?" She asked, her shoes squelching as she walked over to the Doctor, who slammed his sonic on the wall in response. "Er, I'll take that as a no?" Amy frowned.

"Doctor," Ariel breathed. She ran up to him and grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly to reassure him.

"One door, one door switch, one condition," the Doctor nodded, clenching his jaw and glaring at the door. "We forget everything we saw," he hummed. "Look familiar?" He prompted, shooting daggers at Amy who just gulped harshly.

"That's the carrot," the Doctor said.

Ariel's eyes widened as the two smiling puppet booths on the other end of the pipe lit up. She tapped the Doctor's wrist cautiously, never taking her eyes off the booths.

"Ooo, here's the stick," the Doctor hummed. He marched over to the booth and stared at the two Smilers inside it. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" the Doctor asked.

"I can answer that," Ariel nodded, smiling as she realized she could give the Doctor the answer now.

However, at her words the Smilers turned into Frowners.

"Answer quickly," the Doctor instructed.

"The creature, I forget the name Star-something, it's carrying the ship. It's the reason we never felt any engines. It's the one moving the ship," Ariel explained and the Doctor's eyes widened.

"So, it's keeping the ship in motion and anyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" the Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow at the Frowners.

Their frowns turned to scowls with beady red eyes glowing out at the trio and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Oh, stop it," the Doctor scoffed. "I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting, and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?" He taunted.

All of a sudden, the booths opened and the Smilers stepped out towards the trio making all three jump back in shock.

"Or do that," Ariel winced, shrugging slightly as she, the Doctor and Amy all took slow steps backwards keeping their eyes trained on the Smilers.

"Doctor?" Amy breathed, her voice betraying her fear.

Before the Doctor was forced to come up with a clever plan the could get them out of the mess, a figure marched up behind them and saved them.

"Duck!" The woman shouted and the Doctor pulled Ariel to the side while Amy jumped back and the woman shot both the Smilers in the chest.

She spun her gun impressively before sticking it in her holster and Ariel grinned.

"I want one," Ariel nodded. "Can we get me one?" She asked like a child begging for their favourite toy.

"No," the Doctor said with large eyes.

"You're no fun," Ariel pouted.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes, grinning at her and wrapping his arm around her. "Look who it is," the Doctor hummed. "You look a lot better without your mask," he remarked.

"A lot better," Ariel smirked and the Doctor shot her a glare. "What? I'm just admiring," she shrugged.

The Doctor snorted and rolled his eyes again.

"You must be Ariel," the woman chuckled. "I'm Liz. Liz Ten," she introduced, holding out a hand.

"Wait, you already know her?" Ariel frowned, turning back to the Doctor and ignoring the hand.

Liz simply chuckled, shook her head and turned to introduce herself to Amy.

It was amusing to anyone who didn't know the pair how ensnared they were in each other. They saw many attractive faces in their travels, even ones who were famed for their beauty and yet when it came down to it they always found themselves more entranced by each other than anything else. They could see a million pretty faces but at the end of the day they were tied to each other and would never let go.

"I met her looking for the engines," the Doctor nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ariel wondered. Every time they parted on an adventure he always told her all that he had learned when they were separated and she did the same for him. It was how they grew so close. They didn't harbor any secrets or leave out any details.

"Didn't get the chance to," the Doctor shrugged. "We were on about what you found out while I was gone."

"True," Ariel sighed.

"You know Mandy, yeah?" Liz prompted, walking up to the door and wrapping her arm around the child who beamed up at her. "She's very brave," she hummed.

"Hold on, how did you find us?" the Doctor frowned.

"Stuck my gizmo on you," Liz shrugged, tossing him a small device which the Doctor narrowed his eyes at. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?" She asked.

The Doctor sighed and handed the gizmo to Ariel who proceeded to toy with it as he questioned Liz.

"You're over sixteen, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it," the Doctor reminded her, accusation pulling at his tone.

"No," Liz shook her head. "Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject," she shrugged.

"Really?" Ariel frowned, placing the gizmo in the pocket of the Doctor's suit.

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" the Doctor asked.

"You're a bit hard to miss, love," Liz grinned and Ariel smirked. "Mysterious stranger, M O consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot," she sighed.

"Oi, it's not that bad," Ariel frowned, brushing her hand through the Doctor's wet hair while he pinkened. "Fourth face was a bit out there though," she mumbled.

Liz just chuckled and shook her head. "I learned about you too," she nodded and Ariel's eyes widened. "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was," she shrugged.

"Your family?" the Doctor frowned.

Before she could answer, the Smilers started whirring and they all glanced back with wide eyes understanding what the noises meant and not enjoying it in the slightest.

"They're repairing," Liz sighed. "Doesn't take them long. Let's move," she said, nodding them out another exit away from the one asking them to 'forget'.

They marched through the sub basement and Liz broke into her explanation of just how she knew about the Doctor and who her family was.

"The Doctor," Liz hummed. "Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve. Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day," she smirked. "Though she did like you, didn't she?" She prompted, glancing down at Ariel who grinned. "Albert too. You helped raise their kids after all," she shrugged.

"It was the least I could do," Ariel smiled.

"Liz Ten," the Doctor gasped with wide eyes. He glanced down at Ariel and nodded to the woman and it only took mere moments for Ariel to grasp what he was saying and for her heart to stop.

"No," Ariel breathed.

"Liz Ten, yeah," Liz nodded. "Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!" She barked and the Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel, pulling her to the ground with him while Mandy and Amy ducked as well.

Liz shot the Smilers that had repaired themselves and grinned when they fell to the ground. Liz held up both her guns and smirked at the four of them.

"I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule," Liz said.

Ariel beamed up at her. "I like her," she nodded as the Doctor chuckled and helped her off the ground, taking her hand in his. "I like her a lot," she sighed.

"Gotta say, I like you too," Liz smirked. "Read in Vicky's diaries about your work with the Weeping Angels. It's impressive," she hummed.

"Oh, I was hardly the only one on that. I had the Doctor feeding me information about them the entire time. It was a bit mind numbing to have to run back to the Tardis every time so the time lines didn't cross," she sighed.

"Better than having her meet me ten years too early," the Doctor reminded her and Ariel sighed but nodded. "Now, just where are you taking us?" He asked Liz as she opened up the door to a narrow corridor and lead them through.

"There's a high-speed Vator through there," Liz said and began marching away when the Doctor was distracted by a few tentacles banging against what looked like a prison door. "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?" She prompted the couple.

"I know what it is," Ariel nodded. "I chose protest."

"You did?" Liz said with wide eyes. "Then you're invaluable to me. What do you know?"

"I know that this creature is the reason we're still flying," Ariel nodded. "It was captured and the city was built around it. It's leading some awful half life being stabbed with feeding tubes and forced to keep moving constantly but anyone who protests is shot down into its mouth and never to be seen again," she sighed and Liz's eyes grew large. She clenched her jaw in fury at the very thought.

"Someone's doing this. Feeding it," Liz scowled. "Feeding my subjects to it!" She barked, marching away from them a new fury thrumming through her veins. "Come on. Got to keep moving," she instructed them.

Mandy and Amy followed but the Doctor and Ariel lagged behind, staring at the tentacles with sad eyes.

"Is that all true?" the Doctor mumbled.

"Yeah," Ariel nodded. "Though I'm not sure I got the full story even in the voting cubicle. There seemed to be a lot of holes in what he was telling me and I think after all this time even the people don't know the truth."

"Ari, I need you to tell me the whole story. Now," the Doctor insisted with a nod. "The story as you know it."

Ariel took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, when they left the planet it's like you said. People who were poor and unable to immediately get their own ship and flee had to say. Some of the British monarchy remained to try and figure out a way to help them and save their people. Then the creature this ship is built on came and they captured it, built the city on it and flew the people to safety. Now, they said the only thing keeping this ship afloat is them keeping the creature in line and until a full 1% of the population protests those who are alone will keep being fed to it."

"That's it?" the Doctor implored.

"Yeah, why?" Ariel frowned. "What do you think this is going to come to?" She asked, knowing he was already thinking ahead to that point.

"I'm worried it may end in this creature dying," the Doctor mumbled. Before he could elaborate, he clenched his jaw and marched away, grabbing Ariel's hand and following the group.

Ariel looked up at him with sad eyes. He didn't deserve to have more blood on his hands. He didn't need more of that weight weighing him down. She took a deep breath and decided within the confines of her own mind that if it came to killing she would be the one to pull the trigger, not him. He didn't need more dead bodies on his conscious.

They marched down the corridor, arm in arm following after Liz Ten while the Doctor recounted stories of her ancestors for the moment taking everybody's minds off the problem at hand. Entirely welcome when they realized they didn't know just who or what they would be facing when they found out just who was keeping these things hidden from the Queen herself.

Eventually, they headed back into her room where dozens of water glasses were laid out on the floor as well as a chandelier barely even rattling by their side.

Amy and Ariel took a moment to clean up their hair from the alien sick while Liz fell back on her bed and the Doctor peered around the water glasses.

"So, you were jealous, were you?" Amy smirked and Ariel's eyes widened.

"What, you heard that?" Ariel frowned.

"Only you admitting you were jealous. I was in and out for a bit before I got up," Amy shrugged.

Ariel chuckled and nodded, bowing her head at the indirect confession. "After you got back in the Tardis when we came here and had your arms wrapped around the Doctor I got sort of jealous," she shrugged.

"Oh, that?" Amy frowned. "I doubt I was even thinking about that," she scoffed.

"I get that now," Ariel nodded. "I guess I just get jealous too easily. The Doctor does too. Maybe, that's why we're so good together," she mumbled with a soft smile. "We can't get mad at each other for our jealousy because we both do the same thing."

Amy nodded and tied her hair up. "Well, if it helps, I'm not mad at you for it."

"Thanks," Ariel smiled. "It'd be a bit rubbish if we hated each other right at the start of our travelling together," she mumbled.

Amy chuckled and nodded. "That's true."

Ariel smiled and turned back to the Doctor once all the sick had been combed out of her hair.

"Secrets are being kept from me," Liz muttered, shooting daggers at the wall as though they were the government hiding from her. "I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this. My entire reign. And the pair of you've achieved more in one afternoon."

Ariel took the Doctor's hand and he smiled softly as he passed the Queen's porcelain mask to her while narrowing his eyes at Liz.

"How old were you when you came to the throne?" the Doctor wondered.

"Forty," Liz shrugged. "Why?"

"What, and you're fifty now?" Amy frowned, turning back to them. "No way," she scoffed.

"She's right," Ariel nodded. "For fifty you're looking bloody good," she smiled and Liz blushed.

"They slowed my body clock," Liz smiled. "Keeps me looking like the stamps."

"Hold on, this doesn't have a wire or anything," Ariel mumbled. "It's perfectly sculpted to your face," she frowned, holding up the mask as though comparing.

The Doctor nodded, gesturing to Ariel that there was more to this. "And do you always wear this in public?" He prompted, gesturing to the mask.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me," Liz sighed. "The autographs, the bunting," she shrugged.

"It's porcelain though," Ariel mumbled with a small frown. Porcelain wasn't easy to keep for ages. It cracked. It wore down. It showed its age. The porcelain mask in Ariel's hands did just that.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "Are you getting it?"

"I think so," Ariel said, nodding as well.

"Good," the Doctor smiled. "Air-balanced porcelain," he hummed, taking the mask from her hands and walking over to Liz, holding it up to her face. "Stays on by itself, because it's perfectly sculpted to your face."

"Yeah?" Liz frowned, unsure of what they were figuring out that she had been left out on. "So what?" She shrugged.

"Oh, Liz," the Doctor sighed. "So everything."

"Every little variable counts, Liz," Ariel nodded, walking over to the Doctor and wrapping her arm around his shoulders while he sat on the bed.

The Doctor smiled up at her but before they could begin explaining what they had worked out to Liz, a group of men in black hoods like the ones that had taken Ariel and Amy to the voting cubicles walked in.

The Doctor hopped up and wrapped his arm around Ariel's shoulders, pulling her close to his body as he did so.

"What are you doing?!" Liz snapped, her eyes wind at the sight of people barging into her room uninvited. "How dare you come in here?"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now," the man instructed.

"Why would I do that?" Liz wondered, tilting her head curiously at the idea.

The men's faces shifted and spun to reveal the mechanical Scowler behind their ordinary human faces.

"Blimey," Ariel frowned. "That reminds me of Professor Quirrell and Voldemort!" Ariel gasped, her eyes wide as the Doctor laughed at the very idea that when faced with a threat her first instinct was to think of Harry Potter.

"How can they be Smilers?" Amy wondered, staring at the men who had all shifted into Scowlers with a frown.

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor shrugged.

"How are they even created?" Ariel mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the Scowler curiously stepping forward to get a better look at just how realistic the human face was behind the hood.

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen," Liz said. "On whose authority is this done?" She asked furiously.

"The highest authority, Ma'am," the robotic voice replied.

"I _am_ the highest authority!" Liz snapped and the Doctor and Ariel shared a wide eyed gaze, the pieces of the puzzle beginning to fall into place.

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am," the Scowler said.

"Where?" Liz asked.

"The Tower, Ma'am."

Liz inhaled sharply and glanced back at the Doctor and Ariel who both nodded to her.

"Do it," the Doctor said. "They'll be taking you to show what's happening with this creature."

"Alright," Liz nodded. "But all of you are coming with me," she said.

"Ma'am, I highly advise-," the Scowler began.

"Zip it!" Liz snapped. "They come with me or I don't go at all."

"Yes, Ma'am," the Scowler said. It bowed its head, stepping to the side while the other Scowlers began marching out of the room to guide the group to the Tower.

They headed to the tower in silence, all unaware and cautious of what they may be stepping into when they reached their destination.

The Smilers lead them through the doors and Ariel winced at the very sight of the room they were being guided into. Despite them being in the future Ariel couldn't help but feel as though she had been tossed into the 18th century when looking at the state of the dungeon.

Beneath a barred section of the ground there were more tentacles flailing and hitting the metal desperately.

Ariel met the Doctor's fury at the sight with large eyes. She knew what he was thinking in that moment because she had seen that anger before. When they were with the Ood she saw his rage and regret about what they were being faced with and now when he got another opportunity to help he didn't even know if he would be able to stop the abuse.

A few feet away, there was a small circular enclosed area where some sort of laser was firing measured shots at something they couldn't see but could easily but could easily guess what it was.

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy wondered, frowning at her surroundings.

"The lowest point of Starship UK," the Doctor muttered, scowling at the area.

"The dungeon," Ariel sighed, glancing around in what almost mirrored exhaustion. She loved traveling with the Doctor, but moments like these made her faith in humanity waver. If they could do things like this why did they deserve the advancements yet to come for their race?

A man stepped forward with grey hair and a black hood similar to the men that were half Smiler half human.

"Ma'am," the man said, nodding in the presence of the Queen.

"Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away," Liz hummed "I think you've got some explaining to do."

Before he could even begin, a line of children started marching past them and the Doctor and Ariel spun around, frowning curiously at the little kids.

"There's children in here," the Doctor observed, patting the head of one of the children that passed affectionately. "What's all that about?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children," Hawthorne shrugged.

"Yeah, ten guesses why it won't eat little kids," Ariel scoffed, watching the little kids being put to work in the dungeon with a deep scowl.

"Regardless, you're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky," Hawthorne remarked.

"Yeah, look at us," the Doctor sneered. "Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle," he shrugged. He grabbed Ariel's hand and pulled her over to the enclosed circular area and revealed a large brain being shot at with the laser.

"This is horrid," Ariel winced.

"What is it?" Liz frowned.

"Well, like I say, it depends on the angle," the Doctor nodded. "It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly," he breathed, obviously believing that far more than the ladder he was about to present.

"Or?" Liz prompted.

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button," the Doctor snapped.

"You gain control over this bloody ship by increasing your torture," Ariel muttered, clenching her jaw and glaring at Hawthorne.

"This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature," the Doctor hummed. "Is what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving. Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear."

The Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand and ran over to the caged area of the floor where the creature's tentacles continued to slam. He pulled the caging off and the tentacle stretched itself up tall above all of them. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and squeezed Ariel's hand once before sonicing an escaped tentacle and allowing all of them to hear the terrified screams of the creature just beneath their feet.

Ariel winced but she never turned away as Amy and Liz did. After hearing the Ood song of captivity it was hard to turn away from the cries of a creature in pain.

"Stop it!" Liz exclaimed, covering her ears as tears flooded her amber eyes. "Who did this?" She gasped, directing her attention to Hawthorne once again.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne said, unfazed by the sound of the creature in pain.

"I am the highest authority!" Liz snapped and the Doctor and Ariel shared a sad but knowing look. "The creature will be released, now. I said now! Is anyone listening to me?" She frowned, spinning around to see nobody moving upon her command.

"Liz," the Doctor sighed. "Your mask," he reminded her.

"What about my mask?" Liz frowned, shaking her head aimlessly.

"Remember how I said nothing was unimportant?" Ariel implored, raising an eyebrow.

"Look at it," the Doctor nodded. "It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say," he guessed.

"Maybe, even more," Ariel mumbled.

"Yeah?" Liz shrugged. "It's an antique. So?"

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face," the Doctor hummed. "They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not fifty. Nearer three hundred. And it's been a long old reign," he said.

Liz shook her head, stepping back from the couple and frowning. "Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years," she insisted.

"Yes, you have," Ariel agreed, nodding along with her. "It's been ten years."

"And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here," the Doctor said. The Doctor grabbed Liz's arm with his other hand and lead them all around a corner to a small computer screen.

In front of the computer there were two buttons, 'Forget', and 'Abdicate'.

Liz stared at it with large eyes before turning to Hawthorne, her voice broken and child-like when she spoke. "What have you done?" She gasped.

"Only what you have ordered," Hawthorne nodded. "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," he shrugged. He pressed a button at the top of the screen and the image flickered before turning on and revealing an image of Liz sitting before the screen likely two-hundred years earlier.

Liz took a seat before the screen, her eyes fixated on her younger self. "If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision," the younger Liz pleaded.

Ariel scowled and turned away. She didn't blame the Liz sitting before them but at least they now knew the origin of this. The younger Liz had decided to trust the word of men who were likely relying on word of mouth to understand what to do with the Star Whale and because of it they were feeding innocent people to it and torturing it.

"I voted for this," Amy breathed. "Why would I do that?" She wondered.

"Hell, if I know," Ariel shrugged.

"Oh, I do," the Doctor nodded. "You didn't vote for it because you knew better, but you," the Doctor hummed, rounding on Amy. "You knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know," he said.

"I don't even remember doing it," Amy frowned, unsure of why he was getting angry with her. So, she had made a mistake. She didn't know as Ariel did not to try and protect him from certain information. She didn't know that she couldn't stop him from having to face things such as this.

"You did it," the Doctor mumbled. "That's what counts."

Amy glanced at the couple, desperately trying to make them see that she didn't know what she was doing but when Ariel hung her head and turned away she knew she was on her own in this one.

"I-I'm sorry," Amy breathed.

"Oh, I don't care," the Doctor hissed. "When I'm done here, you're going home," he said, storming away to the controls.

"Doctor," Ariel sighed, marching after him. "She didn't know better."

"Well, I'm not going to waste my time teaching her," the Doctor snapped. "She made a decision that impacts thousands of lives I'm not just going to forget that."

"But I chose to protest!" Ariel exclaimed. "You got the information they gave us either way. Isn't that enough?"

"Not when I could've had the full story from both of you as soon as possible," the Doctor said and Ariel bowed her head in acceptance of that fact. "Like it or not, we're taking her home after this."

"Why? Because I made a mistake? _One_ mistake? I don't even remember doing it. Doctor!" Amy demanded, slamming her hands down on the controls.

"Don't!" Ariel snapped, grabbing Amy's hands and glaring at her. "If you want to stay then you don't meet his anger with your own. It helps nobody."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Amy wondered. "I made a mistake. I screwed up. I can't promise I won't make mistakes," she sighed.

"Yeah, I know," the Doctor sighed, glaring at Amy. "You're only human," he said, stating her species as though it were an insult.

Ariel took a deep breath and walked over to his side. He kept fidgeting with the controls and she swatted his hand away.

"Let me," Ariel requested and the Doctor's eyes grew wide.

"No," the Doctor breathed. He couldn't let her carry that weight and just standby. He couldn't do that to her.

"You don't deserve to do this," Ariel said.

The Doctor stared at Ariel, his eyes screaming that he wouldn't back away and wouldn't let her do this. Ariel met him with the same expression.

Eventually, she sighed and shook her head. "Look, either we do this together or nothing gets done, Doctor."

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright," he conceded. "Together."

"What are you doing?" Liz frowned at the pair.

"The worst thing I'll ever do," the Doctor sighed. "I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"That'll be killing it," Amy frowned.

"Got any better options?" Ariel scoffed, leaning over the Doctor to move some wires around.

"Look, three options," the Doctor said. "One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor any more," he sighed.

Ariel dropped the wires in her hand and placed her hand on the Doctor's arm gently. She knew nothing she could say or do could repair the self hate the Doctor was about to endure but a small physical comfort was better than nothing.

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz insisted.

"There isn't," Ariel said, shaking her head. She could assure them all that ever since she had seen that video she had been trying to work out every scenario to save the ship, even considering bringing everyone onto the Tardis, but it just wouldn't work. Even if they could manage to get an entire population onto the Tardis without anybody going mad at the sight of the large interior, they'd have nowhere to put them without immediately overpopulating some other ship or planet.

"Nobody talk to me," the Doctor muttered. "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" He barked.

Liz and Amy jumped back and Ariel spun to the front of the Doctor while he just glared at her. She recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same one he bore when he was pointing a gun at the Lord President of Gallifrey and his best friend. Anger was driving him. Anger, pain and exhaustion. He was an old man, there was no denying and she knew there were times when he just wanted to do what needed to be done and deal with his regret on his own terms. He didn't want to take the time to dwell over the question of his own morality in the face of what had to be done.

"Doctor," Ariel breathed. "You're not doing this alone," she reminded him.

"That doesn't change the fact that we're killing the last of this species," the Doctor hissed.

"And you're just gonna shoulder all the blame because of that," Ariel nodded. "Is that how we're doing this?"

"You need to move, I-," the Doctor began, brushing past her to continue rewiring the controls.

"No, wait," Ariel frowned, grabbing his wrist and turning her to him once again. "I love you, Doctor and you need to accept that you are not alone anymore. We've both got this on our hands. You're not some lonely monster because I've got blood on my hands too. This is not just your burden to carry," Ariel insisted.

The Doctor frowned at her as her words slowly processed in his mind. Once he finally realized the weight behind them, the clouds shielding his brilliant green eyes cleared and his face fell.

"I'm sorry," he breathed and Ariel smiled.

"It's okay," Ariel nodded, understanding why he had lost himself in what was being done and refusing to see clarity.

He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead gently.

All of a sudden, Amy jumped up her eyes large as she did so. Ariel and the Doctor continued to work but Ariel passed a frown in the direction of the redhead.

"Doctor, Ariel, stop," Amy snapped. "Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" She yelled.

Ariel pulled away and stopped her actions but the Doctor simply huffed and continued working.

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Amy sighed, marching over to Liz and grabbing her hand. "Going to need a hand."

"Doctor!" Ariel exclaimed, watching Amy's actions with large eyes.

"Amy, no!" the Doctor bellowed, grabbing Ariel's hand and running forward toward the ginger. "No!"

"Amy, don't!" Ariel cried but before they could stop her Amy slammed Liz's hand down on the button marked 'Abdicate'.

The Star Whale roared at its release and the ship lurched throwing everyone backwards. Ariel was tossed straight back into the Doctor's arms and he clung to her tightly while the ship shook and sped forward.

Once they all grew accustomed to the speed, the Doctor pulled Ariel to her feet with a sigh and turned to glare at Amy.

"Amy, what have you done?" the Doctor gasped.

"Nothing at all," Amy shrugged, a large grin painted across her lips. "Am I right?" She prompted, turning to Hawthorne who was monitoring the ship on some computers on a back walls.

"We've increased speed," Hawthorne frowned.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the _pilot_ ," Amy smirked. "Got to help."

"There were holes in the story," Ariel remembered, her tone breathy as she spoke with a small frown.

"It's still here," Liz breathed. "I don't understand."

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry," Amy smiled, casting her gaze back at the Doctor who stared at the ground with large eyes.

"Amy," Ariel grinned. "You're brilliant!" She exclaimed. She ran forward and pulled the ginger into a tight hug and she simply laughed and hugged the brunette in return.

"Well, you did tell me to notice everything," Amy reminded her and Ariel giggled and nodded.

"That you did," Ariel hummed.

* * *

A few hours later, Ariel and the Doctor stood on the observation deck looking out at the stars across the sky.

"You were so willing to help me kill the Star Whale," the Doctor mumbled. "Why?" He wondered.

"If it were me, would you allow me to carry the weight of killing a creature that was the last of its kind on my own?" Ariel prompted and immediately the Doctor shook his head. "Exactly," she smiled.

"The girl fated to destroy time," the Doctor hummed.

"What is it?" Ariel implored, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor.

"Prisoner Zero said you weren't acting alone," he remembered. "That I helped you."

"What, you think that's actually going to happen?" Ariel frowned. "You think that's what we're headed towards."

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "And right now I don't like not knowing."

Rather than further guess what the future had in store for them, the Doctor just sighed softly and wrapped his arm around Ariel, pulling her close to his chest.

Amy stepped up behind them and held out Liz's mask with a soft smile. "From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK," she sighed.

The Doctor didn't take the mask. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Amy. "Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship."

"And you two could have killed a Star Whale," Amy nodded.

"And you saved it," the Doctor sighed. "I know, I know," he nodded.

"You were incredible, Amy," Ariel smiled. "Really."

Amy grinned at her and turned to look at the stars through the observation deck. "Amazing though, don't you think?" She prompted. "The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind," she hummed and Ariel beamed up at the Doctor.

"But you couldn't have known how it would react," the Doctor frowned.

Ariel scoffed and rolled her eyes, understanding what Amy was getting at even if the Doctor didn't.

"You couldn't," Amy shrugged. "But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" She said and the Doctor grinned.

He removed his arm from where it had been wrapped around Ariel and pulled Amy into a hug while Ariel beamed at the pair.

She wasn't sure where the future would bring them, but she did know one thing for sure: Amy was turning out to be just what they needed on the Tardis.

* * *

Ariel the Doctor and Amy all walked through London Market back to the Tardis. Ariel and the Doctor's hands were joined, swinging together giddily like school children.

"Shouldn't we say goodbye?" Amy frowned, glancing behind them curiously. "Won't they wonder where we went?"

"For the rest of their lives," the Doctor nodded. "Oh, the songs they'll write," he hummed. "Never mind them. Big day tomorrow."

Amy stopped in her tracks and glanced at Ariel with wide eyes. Did she tell him?

"Sorry, what?" Amy prompted, crossing her fingers inside her mind and praying she didn't say anything.

"Well, it's always a big day tomorrow," the Doctor shrugged. "We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones."

"Which are apparently always Sundays," Ariel giggled.

"Oh, Sundays are boring," the Doctor moaned. "Nothing good ever happens on a Sunday," he sighed.

Amy let out a deep breath and nodded, unsure of why she had assumed Ariel would tell the Doctor. She didn't seem the type to break a promise so quickly.

"You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning?" Amy mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. Ariel's eyes widened as she realized what the ginger was about to tell the Doctor. "Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just, just because you could?" She wondered.

The Doctor chuckled and hung his head, the memory of that day still very clear in his mind. "Once, a long time ago," the Doctor nodded.

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"Made him into the man you see today," Ariel smiled.

"Hello," the Doctor waved, grinning as well.

Amy sighed and shook her head. Of course, she should have known. "Right," she nodded, before sucking in a deep breath. "Doctor, there's something I haven't told you," she mumbled before she narrowed her eyes at a soft sound coming from within the Tardis. "No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?" She frowned.

The Doctor simply grinned, grabbed Ariel's hand and swung the door open for them to run through.

The Doctor made his way straight to the console to start up the engines while Ariel plopped down in the jumpseat and Amy stood by the ringing phone on the console with large eyes.

"People phone you?" Amy frowned.

"Well, it's a phone box," the Doctor shrugged. "Would you mind?" He prompted.

The Doctor nodded for her to answer the phone and, hesitating only briefly, Amy picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?" Amy said, her eyes wide as she spoke to the individual on the other end of the phone. "Sorry, who? No, seriously, who?" She frowned and held out the phone to the Doctor and Ariel. "Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?" Amy sighed, holding out the phone to the Doctor.

Ariel walked up to the Doctor's side with a smile and he flashed a quick grin at her before turning to Amy.

"Which Prime Minister?" the Doctor wondered, not bothering to take the phone until he got a name.

"Er, which Prime Minister?" Amy asked, pressing the phone to her ear once again. "The British one," she offered, attempting to pass the phone to the Doctor.

"Which British one?" Ariel asked, shaking her head aimlessly. They had all of time to travel in that box. The British Prime Minister could have meant quite literally anybody.

Amy seemed to realize this because she nodded and pulled the phone back to her ear. "Which British one?" She repeated. Her eyes grew wide at the name the voice on the other line said and she held out the phone to the Doctor and Ariel with shaky hands. "Winston Churchill for you," she breathed, her mind not seeming to grasp the words she spoke.

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed, a large grin slapping itself across his face as he grabbed the phone and held it out so he and Ariel could hear.

"I've missed him," Ariel smiled. She had only met Winston Churchill a few times and far less than the Doctor had met him. Still, she remembered when she and the Doctor had to face the Sontarans with him like it was yesterday.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, grinning at her. "Hello, dear," the Doctor said into the phone. "What's up?"

"Tricky situation, Doctor," Winston hummed. "Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you."

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister," the Doctor said, pulling a lever and starting up the time rotors. "We're on our way," he promised.

"See you soon, Winston!" Ariel called into the phone before the Doctor hung it up and smirked at Amy.

"So, fancy a trip to the second World War?" the Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow at Amy.

"You two know Winston Churchill?" Amy frowned.

"Oh, he knows him far better than I do, but yeah," Ariel nodded. "He once had to splash him with cold water to stop him from lighting some Sontaran grenades."

"They were disguised as Cuban cigars anybody could have made the mistake," the Doctor shrugged.

"You two are absolutely mad," Amy sighed.

"That's us," Ariel grinned. "Now, come on. We've got to save Winston Churchill."


End file.
